A fire that damaged the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society caused a dozen of cats; however, a woman, who lives above the animal shelter, thanks her pit bull boxer mix dog who woke her up which saved her life. Assistant Fire Chief Sabina Imrie said that a dryer that was running almost at midnight had caused the fire at 2700 Ninth Street in west Berkeley. The blaze killed twelve cats who were not yet adopted. The estimated damage costs up to $500,000. When word came out that there was fire, 10 shelter volunteers went to the scene and together with the firefighters, they were able to save about 10 cats and 14 dogs at the facility. Imrie added, “It was an immediate response by the volunteers, who worked side by side with fire and evacuated animals.”
Johanna White, who lived in the apartment above the shelter, was sleeping when her dog began barking after the fire broke out. The woman had been sick and was unable to hear the smoke detectors in her home. Her dog, Baby, a pit bull boxer mix started whimpering and jumping on her. White said, “I’m just so grateful that my dog woke me up. I’m just so lucky that I have a good dog. I was not a dog fan, either. She’s my husband’s and my daughter’s dog. I might have to re-evaluate my stance.”
Fire Department Fire Chief Donna McCraken said, “I had to make the determination we could not risk ourselves to save the animals. We assessed where they were in the building and attempted a shelter in place. Most of them fared very well. But it was a hard decision to make.” “It started in an unattended dryer. We don’t know what ignited the fire. We don’t know if there was lint inside or some kind of electrical failure,” she added.
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