Bark N Lounge, at 2478B Genoa Road in Perrysburg, was destroyed by fire Sunday.
PERRYSBURG — All dogs were safely evacuated after a kennel in Lake Township caught fire Sunday.
Two adults and at least 10 dogs are safe after a fire at Bark N Lounge LLC, a dog boarding and grooming business in Lake Township.
The fire started in a motorhome, but wind pushed the flames into the attic of the 200-foot-long business.
A passerby noticed the fire and called 911 at 2:06 a.m. Moments later, the owners woke up to odd noises from outside and realized what was going on. They were sleeping in the building; there was no one in the motorhome.
While the owners had many of the dogs out of the building already, firefighters helped get the remaining dogs to safety – both from their kennels and from a fenced area outside.
All dogs made it to safety.
Once firemen arrived and started moving dogs into vehicles to get them further from the building, one dog was inadvertently put into a vehicle with a dog-aggressive dog. That dog did attack, and the victim passed from the injuries in the car, according to a post of the Bark N Lounge Facebook page.
The weather hampered the ability of firefighters to fight the blaze. Near-zero-degree temperatures froze hoses and fire engines. Firefighters were closely monitored for signs of hypothermia and frostbite.
Wind spread the fire so quickly, crews described it as sounding like a jet engine above them in the attic space.
While crews originally fought the flames from inside the building, an explosion risk from a 100-pound propane tank forced them outside.
“At one point, that tank was venting – meaning it was so hot, the safety device that keeps it from exploding was doing its job, for now,” Lake Township Chief Barrett Dorner said. “But that tank wasn’t meant to be in a burning building, and it could have blown up anytime, with no warning at all.”
“Without any more lives to save inside, we checked with the owners to see if there was anything we needed to get for them,” Dorner said. “The firefighters quickly grabbed those things, then pulled the guys out.”
Weather was a factor in the 11-minute response time, according to the Lake Township Fire Department Facebook post.
The fire is believed to be accidental, possibly caused by an unattended space heater.
Assisting on scene were Allen-Clay Joint Fire District, Northwood Fire and Rescue Department, Perrysburg Twp. Fire/EMS, Troy Township Fire & EMS Association and Woodville Volunteer Fire Department Association.
The City of Waterville Fire Department filled in to provide EMS service to Lake Township while crews were on scene. Wood County Sheriff’s Office Communications Division dispatched and handled resource requests.
The fire was under control is just over two hours.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to https://www.gofundme.com/f/bark-n-lounge-fire to replace personal items, help pay for clean up and possibly rebuild.
(Information on the fire and photo came from Lake Township Fire Department’s Facebook page.)
