UPSHUR COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - Five pets died in a house fire Tuesday evening. It happened in the 7200 block of Wild Daisy Road northwest of Ore City in Upshur County. It was called in about 6:30 p.m., and firefighters from several departments were on scene until about 2 a.m. making sure it was out.

Ore City Fire Chief Gaston DeBerry examines a pile of smoldering rubble, all that remains of a two-story home in Upshur County. It took four fire departments hours to get the fire out.

“We responded with two engines. We immediately asked for mutual aid from Diana, New Mountain, and Gilmer fire departments. And, they responded with tankers and engines,” DeBerry said.

With no fire hydrants in the area water had to be brought in. The Chief said the fire had made its way “between the metal roof and the shingles. There were shingles on this house, this metal roof was laid over it, and there was fire in between there and was going up in the wall to the second story.”

He says they couldn’t get water where it needed to go. Firefighters were in the house for about a half hour when the fire spread to the attic. They were suddenly faced with “the endangerment of firefighters being inside. So, we pulled out and it was a strictly defensive call from there on out,” DeBerry said.

They were able to keep the fire from spreading to the surrounding woods. The fire was “extremely hot. Firefighters got fatigued but no significant injuries or illnesses,” DeBerry said.

The Chief says when he arrived on scene, he was told no one was home, but “that has since been proven wrong. There were people home. The lady was cooking dinner and she discovered the fire out of the back of the house there,” DeBerry said.

That information came from the homeowner, who wasn’t there at the time of the fire. He was letting others stay at the home. The people all got out safely, but four dogs and a cat didn’t make it out of the house.

Investigators now know where the fire started but are looking into the cause.

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