Despite quick action from staff and first responders, a number of dogs are still on the loose after a fire at a Seattle-area doggy daycare. Several dogs were evacuated from the facility after a fire broke out on Monday, Nov. 13. All of the animals were able to escape the building into a fenced outdoor area.
Staff and first responders evacuate dogs
Staff members at the Dog Resort in Seattle’s Sodo neighborhood called 911 just after 8:30 p.m., saying there was heavy smoke coming from the building’s second floor.
David Cuerpo, the public information officer for the Seattle Fire Department, said when firefighters arrived on the scene, they searched the building and were able to grab the remaining dogs. Responders later confirmed the building was empty. Cuerpo also said multiple dogs were missing.
“All the humans were accounted for, and the dogs were able to escape. Right now, we are working with the operators of the business to see if all the dogs are accounted for,” Cuerpo told King 5 News.
Officers from the Seattle Police Department also responded to the incident. They assisted in the capture of the loose dogs and closed down neighboring streets while firefighters worked to contain the fire.
Community volunteers jumped in to help and transported dogs whose owners had not arrived at the scene to the Downtown Dog Lounge, a nearby dog boarding and daycare facility. According to Elise Vincenti, owner of the establishment, other volunteers continued to search for the missing dogs.
Two or three dogs are believed to still be missing as of Tuesday morning. Tragically, one dog was killed by a car, Vincenti told the Seattle Times.
Doggy daycare catches fire in February
Last February, Seattle firefighters responded to a fire at another facility owned by The Dog Resort, resulting in approximately $300,000 worth of damage. Staff members scrambled to evacuate 115 dogs, according to KIRO 7 News. Investigators confirmed the fire was accidental, caused by a dryer.
Despite the severity of the situation, all the dogs managed to survive the incident and reunited with their owners after medical treatment.
One staff member, Isaac Walker, told reporters that while he tried to extinguish the fire, it grew too quickly. Immediately, he and fellow workers began evacuating the dogs.
“We literally had to grab them all out the door. I’m not going to say throw them, but we had to get them out quickly,” Walker explained. “There was no time to play around. It was scary, it was definitely scary, but we got them all out.”
Like the fire on Monday, several nearby businesses and volunteers jumped in to help. A King County Metro bus transported some of the dogs to an alternative facility for safekeeping. The dogs were then reunited with their owners.
The cause of the fire in the Sodo neighborhood Dog Resort is still under investigation. There are no reported injuries.
