Firefighters, police, and veterinarians — both on the clock and off-duty — responded to help rescue 75 cats and dogs, several of them in critical condition, from a burning kennel Sunday evening.
The Charlottesville Fire Department received a call about Pet Paradise at 601 Concord Ave. at 6:25 p.m. and arrived on the scene a few minutes later, according to Battalion Chief Joe Phillips.
Firefighters worked through oppressive heat inside and outside the building to identify the source of the fire and to save the animals. They extinguished the fire around 8 p.m., Phillips said.
Residents in the area — some with firefighter, veterinary and medical skills — came to the scene to help load animals, some blackened by smoke and soot, into cars and police wagons.