ELYRIA — One of the cats presumed dead after Thursday’s fire at 114 Highland Court was found safe and sound.

Taz, an orange tabby, was missing after the Thursday evening fire that seriously damaged the first floor of Yolanda Panter’s home. After the Fire Department gave the family clearance to enter the house Friday evening, they found Taz in a closet in the basement, hungry but otherwise unharmed.

Mike Panter said finding Taz was a balm of comfort after the pain of Thursday night. He said his sister, Mary Panter, who along with their brother Eric lived with their mother, took the loss of the three other cats hard, but they felt a little better after Taz was found.

Three other cats and a dog were rescued from the fire. One cat, Miss Kitty, remains under veterinary care after suffering burns on her paws. The family dog, Harley, is recovering at Mike Panter’s home. Harley has a touch of pneumonia from the smoke inhalation, Mike Panter said, but is expected to recover.

No one was home at the time of the fire. Yolanda and Mary Panter were in St. Louis to attend the graduation of Yolanda’s grandson, Shane Panter, from National Guard training. Eric was visiting his brother Joe. He discovered the fire when he returned home just before 9 p.m.

There were some other comforts after the fire. Originally, the family feared that precious family photographs hanging on the dining room wall, which is next to the gutted living room, were destroyed in the fire.

But except for a few photos stored in the living room, the photos survived, along with Yolanda Panter’s bell collection in the dining room hutch, which was also undamaged except for smoke damage on the glass windows.

“We can’t thank the Elyria Fire Department enough,” Mike Panter said.

The fire has been deemed an accident of an unknown cause.

“We’re letting the whys and hows of the fire go,” Mike said. “What’s important now is moving on.”

He says that while losing the cats was hard, the family knows it could have been much worse. The home can be repaired, and no one else was home when the fire started.

“If my mom was home, no way she could’ve gotten down those stairs,” he said.

The repairs on the home are expected to begin soon, as the family awaits word on insurance and what will need to be done. The living room and front hall are a total loss, Mike Panter said, adding that repairs are expected to take eight to 10 months.

“We’re going to have one big hoopla of a Thanksgiving there next year, after thinking we might never have another one there,” he said.

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

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