— Forty-two cats, three dogs, two tarantulas, a goldfish and a ball python were rescued by police officers from a Saturday morning blaze at the Denville Animal Shelter on Morris Avenue, Capt. Paul Nigro said.

At 3:33 a.m., police received a report of a fire alarm at the township animal shelter and, upon arriving at the scene, found a heavy smoke condition in the shelter's isolation room, Nigro said.

The room, which is typically used to quarantine sick animals or new arrivals, had recently undergone renovations, Nigro said.

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The fire was contained to the isolation room, but all animals were moved out of the shelter to a Department of Public Works building by police officers, Nigro said. The rest of the shelter was unaffected, he said.

Township firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, he said, but the room sustained smoke and water damage, and one wall had significant fire damage.

One of the dogs — a pitbull — broke out of a cage while police were evacuating the animals, but police were able to get the animal under control, he said.

No animals were injured in the fire, but a few animals were taken to the veterinarian as a precautionary measure due to possible smoke inhalation, Nigro said.

The fire was not suspicious, but the cause is still under investigation, Nigro said.

"All things considered, we were pretty fortunate," he said.

Debbie Clark, a kennel attendant, said it was a shame as the shelter only had use of the room for two months before the fire, but hopefully people take this as opportunity to adopt a few pets.

"Here's hoping this brings out some folks to adopt them," Clark said. "At least there's an upside."

For more information about adopting animals from the shelter, contact Denville Animal Control Officer Meredith Petrillo at 973-627-4900 ext. 4.