CHICAGO _ Twenty-nine dogs died Monday morning in a fire at an Illinois kennel, authorities said.
At least 22 dogs survived the fire at D&D Kennels near West Chicago, prompting a full-scale response from the DuPage County animal department and volunteers to provide shelter for those animals. About a half dozen dogs ran away from the scene, but by the afternoon, all but one had been found.
The fire was reported about 5:30 a.m. at the kennel.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Kennel operator Garrett Mercado told reporters that he had left his apartment for a short time Monday morning and when he returned he saw a fire in the kitchen area of his apartment on the second floor of the kennel building.
Mercado said his hands were blistered on the hot metal cages that housed some of the dogs he tried to save.
"I was just opening as many doors as I could, hoping they would follow me out," he said Monday afternoon as he stood outside the county animal services facility in Wheaton.
Mercado said many of the dogs had been animals with behavioral difficulties that he was trying to train so they could be placed with new owners.
"I've tried to give dogs with behavioral difficulties a second chance," he said. "Unfortunately, my time's been cut short with a lot of them."
As he talked with reporters, Mercado was reunited with one of the dogs, a mixed breed named Capone, who had been found in a nearby cemetery by animal group volunteers.
Firefighters on arrival found heavy fire coming from several second-floor windows of the two-story building.
Firefighters and police also were able to free some of the dogs from the burning building, authorities said. But a number that were trapped in the cages in the main building died, according to the Carol Stream Fire Protection District, which was one of five area departments that responded to the fire. A number were mixed-breed pit bulls, according to the fire department.
Three firefighters suffered minor dog bites, the department said.
The DuPage County Arson Task Force is involved with the investigation, according to the Carol Stream Fire Protection District.
Monday afternoon, animal services officers had given shelter to a number of the surviving dogs with names such as Mort, Chief, Gus and Rosie, in the department's kennel in Wheaton.
Dr. Barbara Hanek, the department's veterinarian and administrator, said her staff was caring for surviving animals and going about the grim task of identifying the ones that died.
"It's been incredibly difficult," Hanek said. "We're all in this business because we love animals."
As word of the fire spread, volunteers from other animal organizations fanned out to search for missing dogs and put up posters alerting the public.
"Everybody is pitching in," said Peggy Grandahl, who was putting up a poster with Morgan Mason. The women had come from Joliet to help.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which licenses dog kennels, said D&D had an up-to-date license.
