Monday, November 26, 2007
Fire kills 3 pet dogs in Botetourt County
Fire officials suspect that the blaze had probably been burning slowly for three to four hours.
Botetourt County fire crews were able to quickly contain a house fire Sunday evening, but the blaze still claimed the lives of three pets, authorities reported.
The fire happened at a home in the 6000 block of Mountain Pass Road, about a quarter-mile off U.S. 11 (Lee Highway), said Chief Greg Sleboda of the Troutville Volunteer Fire Department.
The 911 call went out "at 6:27 ... and three trucks actually arrived on the scene at 6:30, so we had three minutes until crews were on the scene," he said.
Mountain Pass Road was shut down while teams from Troutville, Read Mountain and Blue Ridge fought the fire. Sleboda said it was under control in about 20 minutes.
"We were able to keep it contained to the kitchen and the basement," he added, estimating the damage at about $20,000. "A county fire investigator said it was an electrical problem in the basement wiring that led up into the kitchen."
Because the fire had burned through the floor joists, however, Sleboda said, he suspects the blaze had probably been burning slowly for about three or four hours.
Sleboda said three dogs -- a Doberman pinscher and two terriers -- were in the house at the time of the fire.
"We found the dogs fairly quickly. Crews performed CPR on them. They even intubated the dogs," he said, describing a procedure usually reserved for humans, in which a tube is passed through the mouth and down the windpipe to enable artificial respiration.
"We really wanted to get their dogs back, but unfortunately we couldn't," he said.
"The smoke is sad, but at least it's not a painful thing," he said, adding that the owners, whose names he did not know, "weren't upset about the house. They were upset about the dogs."
The family stayed with relatives Sunday night.
