A fire damaged a Petersburg home on South 2nd St. on the afternoon of January 27. No one was home at the time of the fire, except for two dogs who died in the fire.

Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson Dave Berg said the house was tightly sealed, which deprived the fire of oxygen, and slowed the fire. He said it was clear that the fire had actually died down by the time first responders arrived.

“When I pulled up on the place, it was heavy smoke coming from the eaves and openings from the house, although it was pretty tight, all the windows were blackened,” he said. “The fire had been going on inside, and then maybe at this point, had died down significantly because of the lack of oxygen in a tight home.”

Berg said firefighters didn’t find any flames inside the house, but there was smoke from the ceiling to the floor. That’s uncommon, and a sign of the lack of oxygen. He said the thick smoke was also likely what killed the two dogs. He said the first responders found the two pets. 

“They retrieved both animals and brought them out where we made a valiant effort to resuscitate them,” he said. “We provided oxygen to them through a canine mask that we have on hand, and also did CPR, but unfortunately, it was not successful.”

Berg said the house sustained heavy smoke damage, and will likely have to be gutted and rebuilt. 

He said it’s unclear how the fire started, but there are clues.

“We’ve narrowed it down to something in the kitchen because of the damage that happened in that part of the house,” he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.