A house fire In Martinez turned into a major rescue operation Tuesday morning after firefighters discovered 70 dogs inside the home.
The incident happened on Barber Lane as a woman clutching a dog ran out of a burning house.
“The house was full of smoke, the dogs were in danger,” said White MacDonald of the Contra Costa Fire Protection District. “My first two crews opened the doors and started an evacuation.”
Firefighters and neighbors jumped into action, pulling out some 70 Pomeranians and one cat to safety.
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“As my guys brought them out they just bucket brigaded the dogs into a contained space. Instrumental. Took a lot off of my job,” said MacDonald.
“We gotta save these babies, they don’t deserve this. It's a very unfortunate situation and the dogs are now a victim of this fire,” said Christina Welcome.
She was among the rescuers and said everyone pulled together to save the dogs.
“I had no idea there were that many dogs. I am personally a dog owner. I own three German Shepherds so I rescued these dogs as fast as I could. I pulled my own crates from my home as did many of my neighbors,” she said.
The owner of the house, Susan Penn, said she was at work when the fire broke out. A tenant was the only person home. She claims all but six of the dogs were just temporarily staying there.
“They are from a breeder friend in Atascadero. And he is on his way to get them. He is a licensed breeder who had Parvo in his house and asked me to keep his dogs until the issue was over,” said Penn.
But neighbors say they don’t believe that.
“These dogs have been here for a very long time. I've lived here for five years and we are friends with all our neighbors so we walk back and forth and every single time you hear this noise, this constant barking, yeah it's been going on for a long time,” said neighbor Nicole Dobson.
All 70 dogs are safe and neighbors said it’s a rescue operation they’ll never forget.
“It’s heartbreaking … they're shaking, they're scared and I’m trying to tell them ‘it’s OK.’ They’re thirsty. They seem like they’re well fed but they’re scared,” said Dobson.
Firefighters said a resident was transported to a hospital for smoke inhalation and two other residents were uninjured.
The blaze is not considered to be suspicious and a cause is under investigation.
