4-Alarm Fire Damages Living Treasures Animal Park
DONEGAL (KDKA)- Crews are looking into the cause of a four-alarm fire at Living Treasures Animal Park in Westmoreland County.
According to officials at the scene, the fire started around 12:30 a.m. Monday at the park on Route 711 in Donegal Township.
The fire started in a feed storage building and spread quickly to the residence where General Manager Matthew Dumbauld lives with his wife.
"I went back into the bathroom at my house and it was filled with smoke and the smoke detector in my bedroom went off at which point, I ran outside to the building beside my house and noticed it was on fire," Dumbauld said.
Dumbauld said his first step was to help firefighters evacuate 13 others staying in a motel on the property.
The fire eventually spread to an occupied rental suite on the property as well.
The good news is there are no reported injuries. However, the building that stored the animal feed was destroyed.
"We are actually Purina sellers, so it's actually horse feed we sell to horse owners. Any essential animal nutrition, we have down in our zoo in a separate facility," Dumbauld said.
Dumbauld, his wife and their pets including a baby kangaroo all got out safely. None of the 300 animals in the zoo had to be moved and they were not affected by the fire.
"Actually, the wind worked with us. None of the smoke got to any of the animals. Just the pets inside the house were the only ones that had to get taken out," said Chestnut Ridge Fire Chief Shawn Kestner.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it is believed to be electrical. In the meantime, the park will remain open for business.
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