A family in Kalamazoo, Mich. lost one of their dogs to a house fire that may have been caused by a stray firework.
As Fox 17 reports, the home caught fire on Wednesday night and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety responded to a call just before 11 p.m. Flames coming from the back of the house were visible to first responders as they approached the scene. Despite emergency crews extinguishing the fire shortly after arriving, the house was still severely damaged. While the occupants were able to escape safely with two of their dogs, sadly a third dog named Tank died in the fire.
“I tried to pull him by the collar to get him to go through but he’s scared of fire and he wouldn’t go through,” Brenda Olson told Fox 17. “And I didn’t think quick enough to push the air conditioner out of the window to get him out that way. I didn’t have time.”
The cause of the fire is still being investigated as of Friday, but Olson believes the fire started because of a stray firework hitting their home.
“We heard a big boom in the back and we had a fire instantly. And there were people in the neighborhood that heard the big boom also,” Olson stated.
A Facebook fundraiser was launched to help Olson and her husband Ron pay for vet bills. You can contribute to the fundraiser here.
Photo credit: Fox 17