18 dogs found in basement of Sidney house that caught fire

SIDNEY — Two house fires within an hour in Sidney had fire crews busy well into the morning, including one house that had 18 French bulldogs in the basement.

Firefighters first responded to the 100 block of North Pomeroy Avenue around 9:40 p.m. and found heavy smoke coming from the second floor of the home.

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No one was hurt and the fire was put out quickly, according to firefighters.

Damage estimates in the North Pomeroy fire were around $30,000.

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About 40 minutes later, around 1000 feet away a second home, on North Walnut Avenue, caught fire.

Sidney police arrived on the scene first and determined everyone was out of the house in the 200 block of North Walnut. The fire had burned through the roof of the home before firefighters arrived.

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It took firefighters three hours to get the fire under control on North Walnut, investigators said.

Investigators said they were able to rescue 17 French bulldogs from the basement of the North Walnut house, however one dog died.

The Walnut Avenue house is old, and it has multiple additions, and that caused the fire to be trapped in many void spaces, including the attic. That made it difficult to fight the blaze, Sidney Fire Chief Bradley Jones said, noting that they requested mutual aid from multiple surrounding jurisdictions.

Damage in the North Walnut fire was estimated at $217,000.

A cause of both fires has not yet been determined.

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