Several animals die in house fire on Trask Parkway

BURTON, S.C. (WTOC) - Several animals are dead, and a home destroyed after a fire Monday night on Trask Parkway.

The Burton Fire District responded to the fire and were able to save some pets before the home burned down.

The Burton Fire District said this was not anybody’s primary home.

“They’re not out of a home. They still have a roof over their head, the children all involved are in good shape and healthy, and that’s the blessing that we’ll take out of today’s operation,” Fire Investigator Lee Levesque said.

When 911 calls first started coming in around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, things looked like they could’ve been worse. Callers reported hearing people screaming in the home, but it turns out that noise was actually a pig from nearby - who wasn’t hurt.

Fire crews had to shut down Trask Parkway to get to a working a fire hydrant, because the one closest to the fire was broken. An extra step in an urgent situation.

“We were very quickly able to determine there weren’t any human beings in the building. Sadly, we very quickly came across the first of animals that were lost because of the fire. Thankfully, we were able to save a handful, but surely not all of them,” Levesque said.

Now that the fire has been snuffed out, the big question is what started it. And it may be later, rather than sooner, that investigators figure that out.

“We dig through the rubble, we shovel, we look at the parts and pieces of the houses that we know very house has and how they are and how they react to the fire, and that’s exactly where we are right now, is that initial approach if you will,” Levesque said.

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