One is a firefighter who saved two cats from a burning building, and the other is a seasonal sickness hitting extra-hard this year.

Here are our picks for Thursday's winner and loser from the news:

After a blaze took over a building in the Schooner Cove apartment complex, this Ann Arbor Fire Department firefighter risked life and limb to save a cat from both second- and third-floor apartments. All while the roof literally caved in around him. The two cats he rescued are now safe and sound with their respective families.

While flu season is never the ideal climate, this year has brought out an especially nasty bout of the illness resulting in extra sick days and empty offices. While the vaccine this year is fairly well-matched, there's still no guarantee you'll be 100 percent safe from what Dr. Arnold Monto, a U-M epidemiology professor, described as a "more intense flu season."