I am an animal lover - obviously. But where does the Gazette think that a title for a tragic story should be "3 cats die in house fire" instead of "family tragically loses home" or "Family survives tragic fire"???? Way to throw the negative out of essentially a positive outcome. Way to go Janesville FD.

The family is very close friends of ours and they are devastated with losing their cats, but are very grateful he woke when he did and saved him and their son and dogs. They do need help as I saw a few people have asked. They need clothing for the whole family, cleaning supplies, trash bags, plastic bins and boxes. That is what they told me they need at the moment. They feel awkward asking for help, so I asked if I could for them. Anyone who has any of these things can please email me at jcschroeder2@charter.net and I can get you clothing sizes. I can pick up items, or they can be dropped off at my house. Thank you for any help you can give them.

Omg. Seriously, enough with the cats.They're cats. A tip of the hat to matthew516.And tommyray, I'm sure they are more upset over the fact that their HOUSE is on FIRE, and things that cannot be replaced are being burned/ destroyed by water. Or maybe that they are just glad they little boy and his father are safe, but shattered watching their house smoldering. Nope, I'm sure it's purely about these three cats. I mean, it's what the story is titled after all,so obviously it's not their home smoldering that is upsetting them, it must be because of the three cats. The other hypothesis I've interjected are surely wrong. As far as how to find out what the family needs or how to get it to them, you could start by finding their number by reverse lookup on the internet, or if you're feeling real saucy you could hop in your car and actually drive to the address listed in the story and ask them yourself. Just throwing it out there. Sorry, all these comments about bad taste with the photo, the apparent fixation on the cats, people apparently oblivious to the workings of a map or the internet(which we are all using-right now) kind of killed my mood. Oh gazette posters, aren't we just as sharp as tacks, and as tact as cats?

Where is Randy Quaid when you need him ..... man I am holding back on the cats......

Oh lighten up re: the photo of the family. It could've been worse. I could have been a picture of me without a shirt on.
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RIP little kitty cats :(

@edgertonFD Ditto! U were probly one of the guys who came to my place to put out the fire. Nicely done, you guys rock!

Hey Gazette, what about the "3 soldiers" who gave their life in the middle east last Tuesday? Have you become de-sensitized as to what's going on over there because thousands of others have died that , "heck, what's three more??" ??? God bless this family, but what a waste of ink!

I called red cross, they do not help with collecting clothing, etc only housing. Does anybody know what the family needs or how to get it to them?

Oh, the felinity!

Well I guess I was wrong, the pic of the family is awsome, im sure somebody would have got an A+ on some photo101 project in high school for it, I just hope to all those people who think its a "great" pic they can be caught on film during a moment of tragedy and have it made public! I mean, come'on people!

Thank goodness the family got out.

Dunno why that was removed other than being unsympathetic. It's the circle of life in action and people act like it is the end of the world.

Contact the Red Cross here in Janesville, they can give you all the information you need to help this family.

Does anyone know if this family needs clothes for this lil boy and where we can donate them? I have a lot of clothes for a boy his size and age.

Sympathy from the posters on the Gazetteextra? Are you dreaming? Sure, there are the normal optimistic posters, but the majority are the pessimistic ones. They seem to vent on here. Saves money on a shrink! Glad the family got out okay and yes, the cats are important also.

Cats DO hide, as I know from personal experience. I had to seek out the last cat and snatch it up. They WILL hide, especially after seeing and sensing the frantic running about going on. Inside cats will hide inside and not seek escape, even if the door is open. They think they are safe if they hide and are not found. I am sure it's a devestation to lose thier pets. A fire is devestating but losing what has become a family member, well, perhaps the photo portrays that loss/fear of loss/concern. I feel it is worthy of publishing with the story. It says so much more than smoke venting from a building. The readers can feel thier pain and, hopefully, better understand IMO.

The title of this article should be
"Janesville man and toddler escape early morning fire."
not
"Three cats die in morning house fire"

Oh no, 3 cats died.
Glad the HUMANS are ok! Am I the only one that thinks with this thought process?

I was there at the fire today....they are my neighbors. It is a very sad day for them. The cats were in the lower level. I saw them bring one out and try cpr on it. I am taking care of their dogs right now. All everyone should think about is how to help them, not criticize the reporting. Thank God that the dad and son made it out safely.

The photo of the couple makes the story real and personal to the reader. We often read stories about house fires but without photos, it's just news. With the photos we can sympathize and feel the loss. The photo is completely appropriate.

If you google for Pulitzer Prize winners in photography, you find many people in the middle of active traumatic events (and very few pictures of property damage with no human subjects). One example, with an epilogue showing how important effective news photography can be:
http://gtalumni.org/Publications/techtop...

Sorry, I didn't see JvlBorn's post before I responded to Onecooper. What JvlBorn said.

Onecooper, can we give the conspiracy theories a rest for a moment. It's easy to envison one of many circumstances where the cats couldn't get out. For example, if they were on the second floor, because what a fire investigator will tell you is that the heat that rises from a fire below is so hot that the upper levels and escape routes to downstairs could become uninhabitable before sleeping cats were aware of their peril. Please don't try to play Quincy and go making murky suggestions of criminal conduct based on nothing but sheer speculation.

To Brenda and Steve if you need clothes for Andrew I have a bunch of stuff that my 4 year old out grew I can give you. I will send a message through a friend of mine that knows you.

Onecooper, must you turn this into CSI? It does indeed 'add up', and with simple math to boot.

Most people nowadays have screens on windows and doors. Screens let air in which would fuel the fire, but still trap the cats.

My sympathies to the family on this devastating loss.

Cats will hide when they are scared. They were probably hunkered down someplace really small.

One of my cats would be greeting the firefighters, the other 2 would be hiding & no one would be able to find them.

If someone would've died in the blaze the picture of the family watching would be in bad taste. Also, I can't believe the cats couldn't get out with all those doors and windows open. Something doesn't add up.

This is photo journalism 101. A picture of a house burning is a chunk of stuff burning. If you add the occupants to the scene, now you've added the emotion to the photo which makes it much more personal to the viewer.

This is my first ever post to the gazette website, I really feel posting a pic of the family as they watch their house burn down is in poor taste......just saying!

I think Talking Monkey's comment is much more offensive.

Gazette staff,

I understand your posting of the pictures but the last one with the family watching there house being destroyed, to me, is a bit to much....

Test your smoke alarms folks.