Fire burns Denison house, kills pets

Feb. 13--An early morning fire burned the back of a Denison house Monday and caused the deaths of a few pets.

Denison firefighters were called to a structure fire in the 2500 block of Steven Drive at 12:47 a.m. Denison Fire Chief Gregg Loyd said the structure fire was fully involved when the department arrived on the scene.

"When we got there, flames were visible from the back side of the structure, and so we initiated a defensive attack," Loyd said. "The occupants of the building had exited the structure with one pet."

Loyd said the firefighters had the flames under control in about 12-15 minutes, however, a number of pets were unaccounted for. The firefighters searched the residence, but no other surviving animals were found. Loyd did not know the number of animals that perished from the fire Monday.

The back half of the house received heavy fire damage, and smoke damage ran throughout the home, Loyd said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the city fire marshal, and loss totals were not calculated. Loyd noted the house was insured, and the occupants' needs were met that night from insurance and the Red Cross.

Loyd noted the house contained smoke detectors, which were functioning properly. Loyd said the smoke detectors roused the occupants from their sleep thus leading to a safe exit away from the fire.

"Please make sure you've got smoke detectors and make sure they're functioning properly," Loyd said. "If you don't, call the fire department because it looks like in this case that very well may have saved their lives."

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