Jan. 4 (UPI) — Hundreds of animals kept by a pet store in a Dallas shopping center died as firefighters battled a two-alarm fire in the structure, authorities say.
Dallas Fire-Rescue units reported responding to a 911 call at the Plaza Latina shopping center in the city’s Asian Trade District at around 9 a.m. Friday. They found the building heavily involved in flames and quickly issued a second alarm.
Dozens of firefighters were ultimately needed to extinguish the blaze, which took several hours to accomplish.
No people were hurt in the fire, but an animal rescue group removed 579 dead animals from the scene, the majority which were of which were small birds, as well as chickens, hamsters, two dogs and two cats, Dallas Fire-Rescue said in a statement issued to media outlets.
The owner of a business that sells animals at the shopping center told Spanish station KXTX-TV that around 500 of them died as a result of smoke inhalation and that only few, including a pair of puppies, two tortoises, a few rabbits and a pig, survived the blaze.
As firefighters rescued and resuscitated the puppies and the other rescued animals, onlookers who had gathered at the scene were moved to tears, KTVT-TV reported.
“God uses people, and I just thought about them, that’s it,” Jasmine Sanchez told the station, adding that her mother owns a clothing boutique in the center and that she had call 911 about the fire.
“I’m happy for them, but I’m really sad for a lot of them who died inside, and it’s sad,” she said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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