“Several” birds, mice, guinea pigs and fish died in a pet store fire in East Hollywood today, the L.A. Fire Department states.

LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey noted “there can sometimes be thousands of animals in a pet store.” In this case, the LAFD stated, “flames raced overhead” and the retailer was “heavily damaged.” The good news?

The LAFD says it rescued “more than 100 animals, including (25) puppies, as well as mice, rabbits, frogs and fish … as flames raced overhead.”

The fire at Kim's Pets & Fish, in a one-story L-shaped strip mall at 1188 N. Vermont Ave. was reported at 6:07 a.m., according to the department's Katherine Main.


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About 128 firefighters had the flames knocked down within 55 minutes, Humphrey added.

The pets lucky to be rescued were expected to survive, and no human injuries were reported, according to Humphrey.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation while the department also worked on coming up with a loss estimate, he said.

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