A hearth that broke out at a shopping mall in Dallas on Friday morning killed greater than 500 animals, most of which have been small birds, authorities mentioned.
The 579 animals within the pet store at Plaza Latina in Northwest Dallas died from smoke inhalation, Dallas Hearth-Rescue spokesperson Jason Evans mentioned in an announcement.
The flames from the fireplace by no means reached the animals.
Chickens, hamsters, two canines, and two cats additionally died, Evans mentioned.
The 2-alarm fireplace took about two hours and as many as 45 firefighters to extinguish round 11 a.m., Evans mentioned.
“While DFR personnel did search and attempt rescue, all animals in the shop unfortunately perished due to smoke inhalation,” Evans mentioned.
No folks have been injured within the fireplace. The construction of the massive, one-story buying middle was severely broken, together with {a partially} collapsed roof, Evans mentioned.
The buying middle contains a number of small companies and was described on its Fb web page as “a place where people can go to eat, and buy all sorts of Latin goods and services.”
A publish on the web page in Spanish requested for prayers for the households who work there.
The reason for the fireplace was not instantly decided and is below investigation, Evans mentioned.