NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - Three people were injured and 34 cats died in a weekend house fire in Massachusetts, fire officials said.
Another 26 cats survived the fire in the two-family New Bedford home reported at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.
A man and two women had to be rescued from the upper floors by firefighters using ladders and all three were taken to area hospitals, authorities said. Their names were not made public.
The surviving cats were treated at the scene and then taken to several veterinary emergency clinics in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. All of them required hyperbaric treatment and oxygen, fire officials said.
The cause of the fire and whether the home had working smoke detectors remain under investigation.
Authorities did not say why there were so many cats in the home.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.