Family Reunited With Dog After Fire That Damaged Multiple Bel Air Townhouses
Bel Air, MD (WJZ)-- The Rich family was heartbroken after fire destroyed their home in Bel Air Saturday. They feared for their two pets—a hairless Sphinx cat and a dog named Cooper.
On Sunday, they were reunited with Cooper outside the townhouse in Hunters Run Terrace.
"It's amazing," said homeowner Brittany Rich. "I feel a little more whole."
According to the state fire marshal, the fire started just after 8:30 pm Saturday. The cause remains under investigation.
It spread to three other townhomes on Hunters Run Terrace in Bel Air. A fourth home had smoke and water damage.
Jeff Wing and his friend Ezgi Akyar told WJZ they heard Cooper barking. "You can just see the fear in his eyes. It's just barking out the window and then we like clear out the other glass. And then he hops in the window and pulls the dog out," Akyar said.
"I can't think them enough for breaking the window and letting him out. I feel we wouldn't have him here if it wasn't for that," Rich said.
The family's cat, Skinz, is still missing.
The fire marshal estimates the blaze caused $1.25 million in damages. It took 60 firefighters an hour to get it under control.
There have been a number of recent fires in our area as the weather has turned colder.
They include a couple killed in a home in Sykesville that officials say did not have working smoke detectors.
In Havre de Grace last week, a woman died in a three-alarm fire.
And a 67-year-old man died in a fire in Middle River.
Baltimore City has recorded 12 fire-related deaths in 2019.