Fire tears through Fort Lauderdale home, killing dog; other pets rescued
FORT LAUDERDALE - A fast-moving fire tore through a home in the Melrose Park neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale Thursday morning, forcing a frantic escape and a desperate rescue effort for several pets trapped inside.
Carlos Sepulveda managed to grab his two Chihuahuas as he fled the burning home located near Pennsylvania Avenue and Southwest 6th Street just after 10 a.m., struggling to breathe through the thick smoke.
"It was horrible," Sepulveda said. "The smoke was asphyxiating me … I ran out."
Firefighters rushed into the home to battle the flames and search for four French Bulldogs still inside. They found the dogs huddled under a bed and pulled them to safety, but one, named Indica did not survive.
"Indica was my world," said Katherine Muñoz, devastated by the loss. "She was like, if I birthed her, that's what she was to me. She was loving. She was playful. She listened."
Firefighters were able to revive the other dogs, with two taken by ambulance to a pet emergency room.
"They were in critical condition when they first found them," Muñoz said. "But luckily, they are good. Their lungs are good. Everything is fine."
Fort Lauderdale firefighters receive special training for pet rescues and first aid, treating animals with the same urgency as human victims.
"Animals like those are a lot of people's lives and children," said Matty Johnson of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue. "We come from a very aggressive search culture here … we take the same amount of pride in finding a pet that we do a person."
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.