Seven Domestic Animals Killed In Two Separate Wenatchee Valley House Fires

Seven domestic animals perished in two separate house fires in the Wenatchee Valley over the weekend.

The Wenatchee Valley Fire Department (WVFD) responded to the first blaze on Friday at 5:12 p.m. in the 700 block of 3rd Street, where crews arrived to find flames in the basement of a single-story home that were impacting the main floor.

Firefighters established a walk-in line to extinguish the flames as they searched the residence for any occupants.

"No humans were inside the home but crews located four cats," says WVFD Fire Chief Brian Brett. "Two were obviously deceased and two others were brought out for resuscitation efforts to be initiated, but sadly they were unsuccessful."

Brett adds the home's residents were displaced due to the amount of damage that was done by the fire, primarily to its basement.

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The second fire WVFD crews responded to was at 8:11 p.m. on Saturday in the 800 block of Meadowbrook Lane in East Wenatchee, where firefighters arrived to find flames on the exterior of a single-story residence that were rapidly spreading to the attic space.

Brett says the blaze proved challenging to knock down and required two-alarm status so that extra resources could be brought to the scene.

He adds that during a search of the home for any occupants, several dogs were located inside.

"They (firefighters) found four dogs, one of which was able to get out safely with assistance from our crews. Three other dogs that were unresponsive were also located and pulled out of the home. Firefighters attempted to revive all of them, but their efforts were unsuccessful."

Damage to the home was significant and its human occupants - none of whom were there at the time of the fire, were all displaced until it can be made livable once again.
Brett says it was an unusual amount of pets to die in house fires over just a few days, and that rescue efforts on domestic animals are always attempted by his crews whenever possible.

"It was a super rough weekend for the animals. We always try and do resuscitation on the animals once we determine there's no humans we have to attempt to revive. Our pets are our family members and loved ones just as much as, so we always do everything we can to try and save their lives."

Shortly after being dispatched to the fire on Meadowbrook Lane, WVFD crews were also called to a brush fire in the Palisades area which spread to about six acres before being brought under control.

Brett says the blaze ignited near to where the WVFD stations its helicopter, so it was used to assist in keeping the fire's flanks under control while hand crews worked to fully corral it.

No structures were damaged or destroyed and no injuries were reported.