AN ANIMAL lover, who returned home to find firefighters tackling a blaze in his kitchen, has heaped praise on them for rescuing his precious pet. David Gray, of Mendip Road, Yatton, received a phone call and popped out, forgetting that he had put some egg

AN ANIMAL lover, who returned home to find firefighters tackling a blaze in his kitchen, has heaped praise on them for rescuing his precious pet.David Gray, of Mendip Road, Yatton, received a phone call and popped out, forgetting that he had put some eggs on to boil.Around 40 minutes later, the 55-year-old was heading back home when he spotted two fire engines outside his house.During his absence, David's neighbour had heard the fire alarm in the former engineer's property going off and had dialled 999.When he saw the emergency vehicles, David's first thought was to wonder if his dog, Laika, was alright.But his concern turned to joy when he spotted the mongrel, who shares her name with the first living creature to orbit the Earth, running around the garden, barking her head off.The father-of-one said: "When I got the phone call, I completely forgot that I'd put the eggs on and nipped out."As soon as I saw the fire engines, my first thought was to wonder if Laika was OK as I'd left her in the house while I popped out."I was absolutely over the moon when I got nearer and could see her dashing round the garden, barking."She's my constant companion and I'd have been devastated if anything had happened to her, but I'm delighted to say she's none the worse for wear."I can't praise the firefighters enough for rescuing Laika and putting out the fire."They were so efficient, no permanent damage was done to the kitchen and they did everything they could to get rid of the smoke caused by the saucepan boiling dry."I was really embarrassed that I'd gone out, forgetting the eggs were on the hob, but the firefighters were so nice about it."The incident took place on August 11.