A fire in a Long Island garage claimed the lives of 12 dogs yesterday, according to reports. Authorities are now investigating the cause of the fire, and why so many animals were in the garage at the time.
Freeport Fire Department officials say the fire broke out around 2 p.m. yesterday, at a home on Hillside Ave in Freeport. The raging blaze had to be put out by as many as 100 firefighters, and when the flames died down, they found about a dozen dead pit bulls and pit bull mixes inside the one-family home's garage. "It's hard to see," Ray Maguire of the Freeport Fire Department told Newsday.
The home's owner, Fernando Cruz, lives in Texas, and told reporters the house should be vacant. But a man named Orlando Howard told NBC News he lives in the home, and that the dogs' owner was a friend of his who lived with him. He said didn't know much about the animals, but believed they were not used for dogfighting. At least two dogs found outside the garage were rescued.
The fire department is investigating the incident, but officials say the blaze does not appear to be suspicious.
