1 dog killed, 4 others rescued in north Phoenix house fire

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Firefighters say one dog was killed and four others were rescued in an early-morning house fire in north Phoenix.

"We were yelling for them, it was too dark, too much smoke," Ron McIntyre said.

McIntyre says he ran into the burning home with one of his roommates where there were five dogs trapped inside a back bedroom that needed to be saved.

"The smoke was down to about the middle of the room, at that point it was hot, really hot, there were explosions in front of the house," he said.

McIntyre was down the street around 2:30 a.m. when he heard the first explosion and took cell phone video as the house erupted in flames. Neighbors captured more footage of the raging inferno with the helpless dogs inside.

"They were tough to find, they were in the north side of the house, we had to put out quite a bit of fire before we could keep pushing forward," said Capt. Tyler Westfall, of the Phoenix Fire Department. "These guys did a quick aggressive search, were able to locate a couple dogs, did a great job, used Fido bags, brought them outside."

Michelle was outside when the fire broke out. She says she' devastated over the loss of a Chihuahua but grateful the rest of her dogs made it out.

"They're doing good, they're doing real good," she said. "I did go back in, but I couldn't... the smoke was too much."

Along with their pet, the three residents lost most of their belongings and their home. They say it's been a tough morning and they're finding comfort in each other.