Firefighters rescued 115 dogs after a fire broke out at a doggy daycare in north Seattle Wednesday morning (February 1), according to the city's fire department. Crews responded to the blaze in the 13000 block of Lake City Way Northeast before noon.
No dogs perished during the incident, but at least five of them were seriously hurt and rushed to an emergency animal hospital, KOMO reported. Two of them suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to a local veterinarian for treatment, fire officials wrote.
All seven daycare workers were accounted for, and one 19-year-old employee was evaluated at the scene and declined to go to the hospital, according to Seattle Fire.
KOMO said employees scrambled to evacuate the dogs, keeping them in vehicles and a back parking lot to keep them safe. Even workers from nearby businesses jumped in to help, including employees from a veterinary clinic that provided care and hospital transport for the dogs.
"They were very scared," Yazmin Perez, who works at a nearby restaurant, told the news station. "very, very scared, and some of them were crying."
Animal Control officers soon pulled up and helped secure the dogs. The agency used their vehicles and King County metro buses to take 75 dogs to other facilities to reunite them with their owners. Nearly 40 of the dogs reportedly went to BowWow Fun Towne in Kenmore.
“This is definitely the largest scale fire that we've been on as far as number of animals,” Don Baxter, manager of field services with Seattle Animal Shelter, told KING 5.
Investigators ruled that the accidental fire started from a dryer before spreading to the back of the building. The estimated loss is $300,000, officials wrote.