A family’s dog died Thursday after flames ripped through the garage of a Carlsbad home, sending firefighters rushing into the burning building to try to save two pets.
The Carlsbad Fire Department said the fire erupted at around 12:20 p.m. at a house in the 3900-block of James Drive. When fire crews arrived, raging flames were stemming from the garage, and spreading into the home.
“Big black smoke, real close, I hollered ‘fire,’ and we came running out garage and a gentlemen who lives there was running in the front yard in a panic saying, ‘My dogs, my dogs, my dogs,!’” said Jeff Gosnell, a construction worker who was remodeling the home next door at the time of the fire.
Carlsbad officials said the residents had managed to flee the fire unharmed but two dogs were still inside the burning home.
“(A resident) was trying to get through the back windows, but it was just so bad, and I was saying, ‘Get back, get back over here. Don’t go inside the house,’” said Roman Estrada, another contractor who witnessed the fire.
Firefighters ran into the garage; a short time later, they came out of the home cradling the two dogs.
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A third dog was inside the home when the fire broke out but managed to escape through a broken window.
Firefighters laid the dogs on a patch of grass away from the smoke; the pets were limp and in distress. A firefighter put oxygen masks on the dogs and began giving them CPR. Bowls of water were placed next to the pets.
A few minutes later, one dog -- pictured above -- was revived. The pooch drank some water and was able to sit up and, eventually, walk over to his owner.
The other dog, sadly, did not survive.
In total, 18 firefighters from CFD and the Oceanside Fire Department responded to the scene.
The cause of the fire has not yet been released. No other injuries were reported.
Though crews stopped the flames from destroying the bulk of the home, the heavy smoke damage made the house unlivable for the time being.
