A doggy daycare caught fire and the neighbors stepped up to save all 115 dogs inside

On Wednesday, a fire at a Seattle dog daycare facility placed more than 100 dogs in danger. According to the Washington Post, the fire was probably caused by excessive lint in the vent. Kenny Robinson, who was working at the facility on February 1, rushed outside with several employees from PSR Mechanical and took pictures of the smoke emitting from the building, which had more than 100 dogs and several employees inside. "I thought, "I can sit here and watch, or I can go over and see if I can be of help," said Robinson, 42. "I knew there could be fire on the other side of that wall, next to the dog run." The employees took the terrified canines across the street to the PSR-fenced parking lot and loading dock.

However, the parking was not secure, so plywood was placed along the bottom of the chain-link fence to keep the smaller dogs from escaping. They put about 40 dogs into the fenced-in area in minutes. "It was really chaotic and traumatic—firefighters arrived, and some of the dogs were struggling from the smoke and needed oxygen," Robinson said. "Another dog got away from me, and I had to chase him down." "But we got them all out." Some dogs were kept in a Mexican restaurant bar, the Hellbent Brewing Company. In total, 115 dogs were rescued as firefighters doused the fire and punched holes in the roof to let the smoke out. The fire caused more than $300,000 in damage. All the dogs were saved, and no employees were injured.

"When our firefighters arrived on the scene, they were met with multiple dogs trying to get out of the building," said David Cuerpo, spokesperson for the Seattle Fire Department, adding that CPR had to be administered to four dogs before transferring them to a veterinary clinic for emergency care. "People stepped up; this was a community effort to save these dogs," Cuerpo said. "It’s incredible that everybody jumped into action." Lonnie Caraveo, the general manager of Classic Collision, an auto body shop, had 27 dogs and 22 huge dogs in his shop after his employees placed a truck next to the fence so the dogs could get inside and find refuge. "We all had a lot of fun petting the dogs and giving them some extra love," Caraveo added.

At Hellbent Brewing Company, Jack Guinn ended up with 35 dogs inside the bar for the next three to four hours. "Once everyone realized that all of the dogs were safe, we relaxed and had a lot of fun with them," he said. "It was a huge relief to learn that all of the dogs got out," said Guinn. Around 75 dogs were taken to other animal boarding facilities, and some were taken away by their owners. Mona Elassiouti, the owner of The Dog Resort, is grateful to her staff, who jumped in to help. She also started a GoFundMe page to cover the insurance and build a temporary location in the neighborhood.

As per Dogexpress, Seattle’s animal control also assisted and took 75 dogs to board facilities. "This is the largest scale fire that we've been on in terms of multiple animals," Don Baxter, field services manager with Seattle Animal Shelter, said. April Panpipat, Hospital Director at Animal Center of Seattle, believed the entire rescue mission was commendable. "The first thing they lack in smoke inhalation is oxygen, so for them to be prepared like that helped with the outcome for patients. I thought that was very impressive. There were multiple people from everywhere. It was best for them that the fire department and ambulances all pitched in to make sure that happened quickly."