Two dogs died in house fire they started, officials say; homeowner is a firefighter



COVINGTON, Wa - Saturday, two dogs died in a house fire that fire officials say the dogs started when they accidentally turned on the stove top.

Q13 News spoke to the homeowner. He did not want us to say his name, but he let us into his home to show us the destruction.

Destruction, the home owner is very familiar seeing himself; he’s been a firefighter for the last 17 years.

But he says he never thought he’d see this sort of damage in his own home; the home he and his wife lived in for ten years, a home with two kids, and two dogs, two dogs who didn’t make it out of the fire.

“It’s very, very sad,” said Captain Kyle Ohashi with Puget Sound Fire.

Ohashi says he and the rest of his team tried to revive the two dogs, but it was too late. Ohashi says what makes the incident so heartbreaking is how the fire started.

“The dogs put their paws up on the front of the stove,” said Ohashi.

From there, Ohashi says something caught fire on-top of the stove.

When we walked through the home with the owner, the stove knobs were still in the on position.

The homeowner says he had two dogs: a 12-year-old Pug named Duke, and a one-year-old Blue Nose Pitbull named Mr. Bone Jangle, or Bones.

The homeowner says Bones had jumped up on the stove and hit the knobs into the “on” position in the past. He says the dog would try to get to food on top of the stove.

“It’s not all that unusual to have pets or kids unintentionally turn on the stove and start a fire,” said Ohashi.

A simple mistake, one the homeowner says he didn’t act on when he could have, but now he wants everyone to know what can happen if you’re not careful.

Q13 did some research and found you can buy plastic covers for stove knobs for under ten dollars.

Captain Ohashi also suggests putting up gates in the kitchen to prevent pets or children from getting to the stove.