News Story - Idaho State Journal

KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) - Quick-acting volunteers helped firefighters save 54 dogs and five cats from a weekend fire that heavily damaged the Sun Valley Animal Center south of this central Idaho resort town.

Bart Lassman, chief of Wood River Fire and Rescue, said no people or animals were injured in the blaze that started Sunday night and caused about $1 million in damage. Its cause remains unclear.

''It was not so chaotic,'' said Betsy Kauder, kennel manager, who helped evacuate the pets. ''They knew they were being helped. They were very cooperative.''

She said firefighters removed the animals from the building and gave them to volunteers who drove them to the Sawtooth Animal Center in Bellevue.

Kauder said some of the animals remain in Bellevue while others have been picked up by their owners.

The Ketchum Fire Department was aided by the Sun Valley Fire Department and Wood River Fire and Rescue, with a total of eight engines and 45 firefighters battling the blaze.

''It's still under investigation,'' Ketchum Assistant Fire Chief Robbie Englehart told the Idaho Mountain Express. ''Nothing has been ruled out. I have a pretty good idea of the area where it started. But I better hold off until we have a meeting of the minds.''

Shannon Besoyan, a spokeswoman for the Sun Valley Animal Center, said the center might not be able to reopen in the damaged building for six months.

She said a small clinic might open in the center's former building nearby until repairs can be made.

This document was originally published online on Thursday, June 05, 2008

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