CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake man is staying with family after a fire tore through his home early Sunday morning, killing three of his pets and hospitalizing his neighbor.
According to the Chesapeake Fire Department (CFD), they responded to the 1500 block of Chestnut Avenue just before 5 a.m.
Dennis Mitchell woke up early Sunday morning as he usually does.
"I’m an early bird, I woke up to get my newspaper, and I could hear some noises that just didn’t sound right and I didn’t know what it was," he said.
That's when he said he saw smoke coming under the kitchen door.
"That’s when I opened the door and saw flames in the garage."
Mitchell said he ran across the street to get help from his neighbor, who he knows very well.
"He knew I wasn’t coming to visit," said Mitchell. "I was banging on his door and then he came over to help me and he’s in Norfolk General right now, burn unit, cause he got burned up pretty bad."
He said the fire burned the man’s hands and feet as he was trying to help get Mitchell’s dozen puppies to safety. Though, not all of them made it out.
"I lost three puppies," said Mitchell. "She just had the puppies. They’re a month old."
He said the ones they lost were going to live with one of his granddaughters.
Firefighters were able to save the rest of the litter from smoke inhalation, using pet-sized oxygen masks.
"I never knew they did stuff like that," he said.
According to the department, Chesapeake crews, along with auto-aid crews from Virginia Beach, stretched multiple hose lines and quickly extinguished the fire.
Rescue efforts for puppies in Chesapeake house fire
Mitchell said while worrying about his neighbor and burying three puppies, he’s also grieving more than 40 years of memories stored in his garage — a license plate collection, a Swiss army knife from his daughter, among so many others.
But he said he is so grateful for his neighbors and the firefighters who responded within minutes.
Fire investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the fire, but Mitchell said they suspect it was either electrical or from a spark in the fireplace.