Firefighters may have nerves of steel to run into big blazes, but they also have soft hearts.

Firefighting team members from Atlantis, Cape Town showed theirs this week when they were called to assist a puppy that had become trapped in a drain pipe.

And thanks to team leader Gregehano Willemse's quick thinking, it was a happy ending for the little pup, which was reunited with its mother and litter mates.

Willemse said that after receiving the call, the first crew arrived at a council house around 04:00 on Wednesday.

"They opened up the concrete and managed to locate the puppy."

Also on scene to assist was Cape of Good Hope SPCA inspector Elani Steenkamp.

Crying 

They could hear the puppy crying and she immediately tried to retrieve it.

But the puppy was lodged tightly in a position that did not allow a retrieval, even with rescue tongs.

"Standing on the spot, I realised that the drain pipes must go to a manhole [in a neighbouring property]," he said.

He took his team to the property and they made several attempts to manoeuvre the animal from the different vantage point.

Willemse said they then secured a sponge to the end of a hosepipe and used it to gently push the puppy through the pipe, which was a success.

The SPCA praised the teamwork of all involved, including the puppy's owner.

The puppy was taken to the animal clinic for a check-up, along with its mother and three siblings.

All were doing well.

Willemse said: "It's a good feeling that goes through one's mind that you can save animals, because God gave man animals [to look after]."

KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter.

- FOLLOW News24 on Twitter