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WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) – A Wichita family is facing a challenging start to the new year after a fire started in their home while they were away, leading to the death of one of their pets.
On Saturday, December 30, just after noon, a substitute mail carrier smelled smoke coming from the family’s house after entering the home’s enclosed porch to deliver mail, according to the family’s GoFundMe organized by Jaime Miranda, the daughter of the homeowners.
The mail carrier woke a napping neighbor who called 911 and the homeowners, the GoFundMe says. When firefighters arrived, the neighbor alerted crews that two dogs and two cats were inside the home.
“The firefighters were able to rescue both dogs, Chief and Chester, and gave oxygen on-site to one of the cats, Callie,” Miranda said on the fundraiser’s page. “The other cat, 16-year-old Sammy, was found deceased in the middle bedroom, next to the kitchen, where the fire began.”
Miranda says it is believed one of the cats may have accidentally turned on a stove burner, which caught fire to a reusable grocery bag that had been set aside from Christmas.