Saturday, November 14, 2009
Crews respond to fire at Roanoke PetSmart
All of the store's animals were safe and accounted for, an official said.
Photos by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times
Firefighters remove birds from the PetSmart near Valley View Mall in Roanoke Saturday afternoon.
Erica Vermillion of Roanoke said she was at PetSmart to adopt a cat but had found a puppy instead. She and her fiance are going to name the new dog Sparky, she said.
Kenda Knapp, with Banfield Veterinary Hospital, laughs as she is tickled by a guinea pig while she checks its breathing with a stethoscope after it was rescued from the fire.
Roanoke firefighters responded to a fire at PetSmart near Valley View Mall this afternoon.
Both animals and people were evacuated from the store. Even after the fire was extinguished, firefighters continued to work to clear smoke from PetSmart as well as from the neighboring Target store.
Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury said that cats were evacuated from PetSmart but that many of the store's smaller animals remained inside. She said all of the animals were safe and accounted for, though.
Erica Vermillion of Roanoke said she was at the store to adopt a cat but had found a puppy instead.
"I walked inside to fill out the application, and all of a sudden tons of people came running out yelling, 'Fire!' " Vermilion said. "But at the same time tons of people were running back in saying, 'Get the animals, get the animals.' As many people running out were running back in to save the animals."
Vermillion helped move the puppy's crate away from the entrance of the store. She later filled out the adoption paperwork in the parking lot. She and her fiance are going to name the new dog Sparky, she said.
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