March 11, 2009

A fire at a Cape Cod, Mass., animal hospital on Monday killed at least four pets. It was the second fiery blast to occur at an animal facility this week. (ZT Pet News Photo Illustration)

BARNSTABLE, Mass. -- Three cats and one dog perished in a Cape Cod veterinary clinic fire on Monday night, but rescuers were able to save around 12 dogs from the burning building.

Two of the cats were residents of the hospital; the other dog and cat were visiting patients.

One dog is also said to still be missing from the Cape Cod Animal Hospital, which spontaneously burst into flames at around 8 p.m. on Monday.

"Things kept blowing up," said Kevin Lacasse, 51, who lives 100-feet away from the hospital, according to The Associated Press. "We didn't have a lot of time. We had to move quick."

Despite seeing the flames engulfing the building, Lacasse headed toward the hospital, to find head veterinarian Scott Munson, DVM, standing at the front door. The two men broke down the back door, using pieces of wood and cinder-block.

The smoke was reportedly thick inside the clinic, but Lacasee and Munson succeeded in opening the animals' cages, shooing the dogs outside.

"It was pretty freaky. We could hear cracks and explosions," Lacasse reportedly said. "But the dogs were really quiet, really good. They didn't know what to do, and some of them wanted to run toward the fire. We grabbed the small ones and flushed the bigger dogs out."

Lacasee and Munson's quick actions have drawn praise from the fire department and public alike.

"I give them a lot of credit," Chief John Farrington of the Centerville-Osterville-Marston Mills Fire District reportedly said. "They did the best they could. They did an excellent job getting the animals out."

Lacasse, however, brushed off the praise.

"We're all lucky, that's for sure," he told The Cape Cod Times. "But the dogs that survived are really lucky."

The Centerville-Osterville-Marstons Mill Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the blaze. Firefighters say Monday night's explosion came 20 minutes after area residents reported their lights had dimmed.

While the majority of the rescued dogs were identified outside of the clinic, one young Puggle, or a Pug-Beagle mix, named Dutch, remains missing, according to The Cape Cod Times. Dutch was last seen around the Cape Cod Airfield and Race Lan area, less than a mile away from the animal hospital.

One-year-old Dutch, who is brown, with spots of black on his back, reportedly ran from the area, terrified of the fire and commotion it caused.

The other animals were taken to Bayview Kennels in West Barnstable, where about half of them remained yesterday.

It's the second time this week a mysterious fire has ripped through an animal facility, causing deaths.

On Saturday, a propane explosion at a Pennsylvania Kennel, Pazzazz Pet Boarding, killed 17 dogs. Among those victims was Martha Stewart's Chow puppy, Genghis Khan.

The kennel was receiving a propane delivery when the tank ignited, setting the dogs' pens aflame, as The Associated Press originally reported. Timothy Kleinhagen, who delivered the propane truck, was also injured in the incident.

Nevertheless, he still aided in the rescue, tossing a Cairn terrier over a kennel fence to safety.

Stewart blogged about the fire on her Twitter page, saying, "chow breeder karen tracy lost eleven chows and five boarders in a tragic propane explosion -- my little genghis khan perished in the blaze [sic]."

She purchased the dog in December, when the puppy was just 7-weeks-old.

The Associated Press, The Boston Globe and The Cape Cod Times contributed to this article.