Newton Firefighters Save 5 Dogs, 4 Cats, Thanks To Mailman

NEWTON, MA — Newton firefighters were able to rescue five dogs and four cats from a home this afternoon thanks to a local letter carrier.

Fire officials are investigating a fire that ripped through the basement of a home on Druid Hill Road this morning when no one aside from the pets were home. A mailman smelled smoke when they were delivering the mail and alerted authorities, according to fire officials.

Fire officials described the fire as "aggressive" but noted they were able to contain it to the basement level of the single story ranch style home.

No injuries were reported. And at this time fire officials don't believe it was a suspicious fire.

This is a breaking news alert (aka short and sweet). We'll update as we get more info.

Previously on Patch: Did you miss last night's historic elections? A recap.

Photo courtesy Newton Fire Department