SANDWICH, MASS. (WHDH) - Several dogs died Friday afternoon in a raging multi-alarm blaze that engulfed a home on Cape Cod and reduced it to a pile of blackened rubble, fire officials said.
Crews responding to a reported fire at Cape Cod Bicycle on Route 6A in Sandwich just before 2 p.m. were greeted by fierce flames shooting from the roof of the home, which doubles as a bike rental shop in the summer months.
Seconds after David Buldini brought one of his dogs outside, the home he shares with his wife and daughters was engulfed in flames.
“He switches the dogs, the runs and stuff. He put one of them out. He was coming in to get the other ones, to put them out, and the whole house was on fire,” said Kim Buldini.
Buldini tried to get inside to rescue the four trapped dogs, but the heat and choking smoke pushed him back.
“He couldn’t get them, and they were screaming,” Kim Buldini said.
A guinea pig and bird also died in the fire.
The family has owned the home since 1994.
About 30 firefighters worked to extinguish the flames as they quickly ripped through the structure, according to Sandwich Deputy Fire Chief Timothy McMahon.
One person who was home when the fire broke out suffered minor burns in an attempt to save the dogs before he was forced to flee to safety.
Fire officials say a lack of working fire hydrants and a buildup of clutter in the house made battling the blaze difficult.
“There was a lot of debris in the house, like extra paper material and products on the floors,” McMahon said. “It was just a lot of stuff in our way.”
The home has been deemed a total loss.
Route 6A will be closed until further notice as officials work to determine what sparked the fire.
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