Beloved dog dies, 2 other pets hurt in Christmas Day house fire in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis families are working together to help a neighbor after a Christmas Day fire took more than just belongings.
Randi Moyer's 17-year-old dog died in the fire.
Moyer thought she would be spending Christmas Day with her 3-month-old great-granddaughter. But just after she arrived at the family gathering that morning, a neighbor called her with the worst news: her home was on fire.
RELATED: Dog dies in south Minneapolis kitchen fire on Christmas
Her three dogs and a cat were inside. Two of the dogs, JoJo and Banjo, were in a kennel together. After searching the home, firefighters found the kennel and pulled it out.
"We pulled both of them out of the kennel, I started doing mouth-to-mouth on Banjo, the smaller one," Moyer's granddaughter Elisia Jenkins said.
"Jo was already gone," Moyer said. "We tried to get him."
The other pets survived, though the dogs had serious injuries that required overnight stays at the veterinarian.
"She got (JoJo) right after my grandpa passed away so she wasn't by herself," Jenkins said. "In a way that was kind of a big piece left from him that a family member had given her."
Moyer is staying with family as she figures out her next steps. She had lived in her home for 50 years and likely can't return to it for another year or longer, she said, due to the fire and smoke damage.
"We just keep telling her, 'We're grateful you weren't there,'" Jenkins said.
Meanwhile, the vet bills for her other pets are stacking up. Jenkins created an online fundraiser and neighbors have been chipping in, too.
Moyer said firefighters told her a stove burner may have been left on accidentally. It then sparked a plastic cutting board above it which may have started the fire.
The official cause is still being investigated.