SUNRISE, Fla. – A family’s pet cat died on Sunday after a house fire in Sunrise. Four people survived, including a woman who was injured, and two other cats vanished.
According to Sunrise Fire Rescue Chief John McNamara, firefighters responded to the burning home along Northwest 26 Street.
“We did arrive to heavy smoke and flames showing from the rear and the front,” McNamara said.
A woman couldn’t get out of the house. Firefighters had to break a door and a window.
A homeowner told Local 10 News that a cat alerted him of the initial fire.
“I hope the cat that saved our lives made it out and survived,” a man said.
9 a.m. report:
“It was a fourth victim trapped inside a makeshift bedroom in a garage,” McNamara said. “Units were able to do a vent procedure.”
McNamara said fire rescue personnel took the woman injured to the hospital. The four survivors are homeless, and the cause of the fire remained under investigation on Sunday evening.
The property has been declared a total loss and deemed an unsafe structure after a fire, with charred debris now lining both the front and back of the home. The American Red Cross is assisting the surviving residents.