Cleanup from pet store fire continues

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

Fire officials are still investigating what started a big blaze that destroyed a Stockyard City pet store Friday afternoon.

Sky News 9 HD was first at the scene when the fire broke out and Saturday, store employees worked hard to search for surviving pets and a place to house them.

Black billowing smoke covered the sky Friday afternoon when this big blaze broke out at the Quality Pet store.

A gutted and charred building remains standing, while sleepless workers hold out on hope.

"We're kind of making a scavenger hunt to see what last little bits of hope is still in there that we can get out," Carl Sandefer said.

Despite all the heat, water and debris most of their little bits of hope survived.

"He's got his fangs out," Sandefer said in reference to an animal. "He's a little bit irritated, but he's alive; he survived the water."

Many animals survived, from tarantulas to tortoises.

"He's probably not going to come out for several days," Sandefer said in reference to an animal. "He thinks the monsoon came through."

After what seems like a monsoon of events, these pets are slowly crawling down a path to recovery, along with a crew who cares for them like family.

"Last night it was very grieved," Sandefer said. "We were really concerned. We thought that, you know, the worst, but if you were sit down right now and put a paper to it, it's not as bad as we thought.

We're told hundreds of the misplaced animals are all being stored at several warehouses nearby and a veterinarian was on site checked out the animals. The animals are said to be doing just fine.