Dozens of animals killed in Humane Society fire

A Tuesday night fire at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas is believed to have started in the dryer in their laundry room. Photo taken Wednesday 3/16/16 Ryan Pelham/The Enterprise A Tuesday night fire at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas is believed to have started in the dryer in their laundry room. Photo taken Wednesday 3/16/16 Ryan Pelham/The Enterprise Photo: Ryan Pelham Photo: Ryan Pelham Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close Dozens of animals killed in Humane Society fire 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

- Warning: Graphic photos -

Carrie May walked through the animal shelter - stepping on broken glass from busted bulbs - and into a room with blackened cages.

"If I had stayed a little bit longer..." said May, who is the shelter manager at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, where smoke from a Tuesday night fire killed at least 74 dogs.

The fire, which started in the shelter's laundry room around 8:30 p.m., originated from built-up dryer lint, said Beaumont Fire and Rescue Capt. Brad Penisson.

Firefighters were notified by a person who lives at a nearby apartment complex who saw the smoke, he said.

All of the surviving animals, including 11 dogs, were checked out by veterinarians and placed with fosters or kept for more treatments.

Black soot covered more than half of the Spindletop Avenue building and broken glass littered the wet floor.

As May walked around on Tuesday, she pointed to a melted thermostat.

"You can see how hot it got in here," she said.

The Humane Society is still assessing the total damage, but the group is asking for monetary donations, rather than pet supplies, since the animals are no longer in their immediate care.

Beaumont firefighters battled the blaze about three and half hours Tuesday night, Penisson said.

Shelter personnel and volunteers waited outside, putting surviving animals into spare kennels as they were rescued from smoking building.

May left work with several others at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday. She said the dryer was off, but was told by fire officials that the dryer lint might have been smoldering for hours before the fire started.

May was en route to pick up her sister who was stranded in Silsbee with car trouble.

She got a call from a shelter worker about the time she hit Lumberton.

"I didn't even go get my sister," she said. "I turned around and hauled ass here."

Any shrivel of optimism May had was shattered when she received a second, hysterical call from the same worker.

"She was screaming, I knew it was bad," May said.

The shelter's puppy room is right next to the laundry room.

None of the puppies survived and Penisson believes the dogs died of smoke inhalation.

Charred stuffed toys and water bowls were still in cages on Wednesday morning.

Soot outlines showed where two dogs, Chip and Dale, had been sitting when they died in their shared kennel.

The tragedy created an outpouring of community support, with numerous business owners offering to accept donations or volunteering proceeds from their sales. Even a Dallas restaurant owner pledged to donate 100 percent of his Monday night pizza sales.

Big and small operations offered what they had, including two girls out of school on spring break who set up a lemonade stand in Beaumont's West End to raise money for the shelter.

Amy Manders, a senior volunteer, sat outside of Steinhagen Oil Company on Wednesday morning, where bags of dog and cat food piled up alongside litter boxes, blankets and towels.

Manders got to the shelter at about 9:30 p.m. with her dad, Steve, a Humane Society board member.

None of the animals had been removed from the shelter when they arrived.

Like May, they wanted to help bring the animals out, but were told they had to stay behind the yellow tape.

"I thought, 'how many could we have saved if they had let us in?'" May said. "But I know (the firefighters) had a job to do."

All of the shelter's cats survived the fire.

A memorial service is being planned for the dogs who died in the fire, May said.

See photos of the damage in the gallery above. (Warning: Graphic photos)

MHeath@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/mheath31