A Dallas business owner says hundreds of animals were killed Friday in a fire at a large commercial building that houses several Dallas businesses.
Dallas Fire-Rescue reported that firefighters were called to a shopping center in Dallas on Friday morning. Upon arrival at the large one-story commercial building, they found heavy smoke and flames.
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The building houses several small businesses, including one that DFR said sold exotic animals. The pet shop owner told Telemundo 39's Carlos Zapata that there were hundreds of animals inside the store when the fire started and that only two puppies, two turtles, and a handful of bunnies survived.
Dallas Animal Services (DAS) was called to the scene, and a total of 579 animals were removed. Most animals were small birds, but there were also chickens, hamsters, two (2) dogs, and two (2) cats. No exotic animals were found on the site at the time of recovery.
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The animals died as a result of smoke inhalation, according to DFR.
DFR said it's unclear how many people were in the building when the fire started but that no injuries to people were reported.
DFR said a second alarm was raised quickly after recognizing that suppression efforts would be largely defensive. The fire department said 40-45 firefighters used hand and ladder hoses to drown the fire from all sides.
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"Firefighters continued their efforts for around two hours before ultimately declaring the fire extinguished at 11:03 a.m.," DFR said in a statement.
Fire officials said part of the large building's roof collapsed in the fire and severe structural damage occurred.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
