Officials did not say what kind of animals died in the fire or how many; pet shop owner says fewer than a dozen survivedA Dallas business owner says hundreds of animals were killed Friday in a fire at a large commercial building that houses several Dallas businesses. Dallas Fire-Rescue said firefighters were called to a fire at Plaza Latina on the 11200 block of Harry Hines Boulevard on Friday morning.
Firefighters arrived at the large one-story commercial building to find heavy smoke and flames.DFR said a second alarm was raised quickly after recognizing that suppression efforts would be largely defensive. The fire department said 40-45 firefighters used hand and ladder hoses to drown the fire from all sides. 'Firefighters continued their efforts for around two hours before ultimately declaring the fire extinguished at 11:03 a.m.,' DFR said in a statement.The building houses several small businesses, including one that DFR said sold exotic animals. The pet shop owner told Telemundo 39's Carlos Zapata that there were hundreds of animals inside the store when the fire started and that only two puppies, two turtles, and a handful of bunnies survived. Dallas Animal Control was notified but said they were not yet able to determine the type or number of animals killed in the fire.DFR said it's unclear how many people were in the building when the fire started but that no injuries to people were reported