Over 100 Dogs Rescued in a Dog Daycare Fire

For whatever reason, fires at dog daycares or dog boarding facilities happen all too frequently. This fire occurred during the day (many occur overnight), so at least employees were there but 115 dogs needed to be evacuated from the Dog Resort in Seattle, WA.

Just after 11 a.m. on February 6, firefighters arrived to contain the fire and also helped to move the frightened dogs to safety.

The Seattle Fire Department said a few dogs had to be given oxygen, and four were taken to a nearby veterinary hospital, where they have since been released and will recover from smoke inhalation.

With most of the dogs running loose, people who work at nearby businesses jumped in to help to corral them. Along with animal control officers, they steered many of the dogs indoors to a nearby business or to the gated area of a neighboring business. A King County Metro bus took some of the dogs to another pet care facility for happy reunions with their owners.

The good news is that, according to officials at the Dog Resort, all of the dogs were accounted for.

The Seattle Fire Department investigators ruled the fire accidental, saying it started in a dryer and extended to the rear of the building. Estimated losses were $300,000.

While, in this instance, the dogs all survived – that’s not usually the case when there’s a kennel fire. That is why in Illinois, there’s a Fire Safety Act (the first of its kind in the country, which I created) mandating that dog daycares and boarding facilities must have at least one person always on the premises, a fire alarm system directly connected to first responders or a sprinkler system. Without a human or mechanized system to call first responders quickly, dogs typically succumb and there are far too many examples of that happening.

The Dog Resort now has a GoFundMe page to support a re-build.