A fire in an apartment killed 31 cats and one dog Sunday morning in the Cal Heights neighborhood, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.
The animals were staying at the apartment temporarily while they were waiting to be adopted out, said LBFD spokesman Capt. Jack Crabtree.
The first reports of the fire began to come in around 7:15 a.m., when neighbors started calling 911 about smoke in the third-floor hallway of an apartment building in the 3500 block of Linden Avenue, according to Crabtree.
Nobody was home in the unit where the fire was burning, so firefighters quickly made their way inside and doused the flames before they could spread to other apartments, Crabtree said.
The resident soon returned and explained why there were so many animals inside, according to authorities. The city’s Department of Animal Care Services responded to offer the resident help with the aftermath.
Fire investigators are still trying to determine what caused the blaze, Crabtree said.