An early morning fire in Victoria has left two cats dead.
A one-storey home was fully engulfed when crews arrived at 2017 Cameron St. shortly before 2 a.m. Friday.
Two tenants were able to get out of the home but their four cats were unaccounted for when the Victoria Fire Department arrived.
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| (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff) |
Two of the cats were located but did not survive despite resuscitation efforts by firefighters. While crews were fighting the fire they did see that the third cat had made it outside. The state of the fourth cat is unknown.
Crews attacked the fire with three lines from outside and once they had knocked it down from the exterior, they began an interior attack.
The fire had spread aggressively, according to a report from the Victoria Fire Department, breaching the attic space, and it took crews some time to fully extinguish the blaze as it had spread through the roof structure.
A total of 19 firefighters attended with three engines, a ladder truck, a rescue truck, and a command vehicle.
The rear half of the home was damaged and the department estimated the loss to be worth about $300,000. Aside from the cats, no other injuries were reported.
On Friday morning, the fire department was again on scene assessing and photographing the damage. An open front door revealed the charred innards of the home, while neighbours to the south were up early shoveling glass and debree out of the walkway between their homes.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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