Watch video from Thursday's house fireResident Becky Overman, who lived in the house with her husband and two little girls, said the fire came on fast.
“The lights just went out and I went back into my living room and seen smoke everywhere and grabbed the fire extinguisher and called 9-1-1,” Overman said. “I went outside knocking on all the neighbors’ doors making sure everybody gets outside.”
As crying residents stood outside the burning home, which is divided into four apartments, firefighters brought out two dogs - a black Lab and a miniature pinscher - and one cat that had died in the fire.
Missoula County Animal Control Officers Amy Zanzig and Courtney Bagnell were on hand to make sure surviving pets had a place to go and that their owners were on scene to care for them.
“This is one of the uglier things I’ve seen,” Zanzig said. “I mean, I’ve seen a lot of ugly stuff.”
Two cats and one dog were rescued alive, Zanzig said.
One of those cats, Taisa, belonged to Jamie Johnson, a University of Montana student and resident in an upstairs unit of the home. Johnson said she was sleeping and woke up to a fire alarm and the keen reek of smoke coming through the grates.
“The smoke was really bad,” she said. “The fire was in the basement.”
Johnson put Taisa in an animal carrier, but fire crews evacuated the house before she could grab the cage. Once Johnson was safe, firefighters went back inside and saved the animal.
“I’m just glad they went back in to get him,” she said.
The owner of the home, Daniel Earnest, said information about the cause of the fire and damage to the home was still trickling in from officials.
“I’ve never gone through this before,” he said. “I’m just learning things from the battallion chief as we go along.”
Smoke and fire damage, particularly in the basement, are extensive.
“There’s a lot of fire in there,” said Logan. “We’re going to be in there for a while.”
Updates on this story will be posted on Missoulian.com, and a complete account will be in Friday’s Missoulian
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Lori Barrett - York Maine wrote on Nov 20, 2008 2:44 PM:
" It was my daughter's animals that were killed in the fire. Her black lab, Tikka, and long haired cat, Munster. She was in class at college and arrived on the scene to see her cat being carried out. Her other dog, Rauli, an Alaskian Malamute, was rescued but her heart is broken. "
Alison wrote on Nov 20, 2008 12:55 PM: