STARKVILLE — A city firefighter helped resuscitate a dog while responding to a house fire on Nash Street Wednesday night.

Starkville Fire Department Lt. Nathan Herndon, while on the scene, found a dog kennel after his primary search for residents of the house. Once he pulled the kennel from the fire, he found an unresponsive dog inside.

Herndon began CPR on the dog, Sippi, demonstrating the process for the residents of the house who soon took over so Herndon could go inside to help stop the fire from spreading.

“The owners did a really great job,” Herndon said. “I helped them start CPR, but then we had to finish our primary search because we needed to make sure there weren’t any more people in there.”

SFD responded to the fire on Nash Street at 11:23 p.m. Wednesday. Only one room was ablaze and the person inside when it started escaped without injury.

Herndon said in his perspective, Sippi was “completely gone” before CPR occurred, and he is thankful it was saved.

“I’m a dog person,” Herndon, who trains dogs for a living, said. “I’ve always gotten along with dogs better than I’ve gotten along with people.”

SFD Investigator Jonathan Wade said the fire began from two possible options — either a space heater sitting under a makeshift bunk bed or an electrical power surge. While the room where the fire began has much smoke and water damage, the rest of the building is intact, Wade said.

Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough said he recommends all Starkville residents check the efficiency of their smoke detectors this weekend to prevent incidents such as this one from happening. If someone needs a smoke detector, he said they can contact SFD.

“I am very proud of our fire tech,” Yarbrough said. “They did an excellent job. They did an excellent job saving the dog. The main thing is that everybody is safe and got out alive. It just goes to good training and quick response.”

Sippi’s owner declined to be interviewed for the article.