Eleven animals, six dogs and five cats, survived a fire at St. Francis Veterinary Clinic in Green Forest on Thursday night, Oct. 24. Unfortunately, one dog and three cats were lost before rescuers could reach them.
According to veterinarian and clinic owner, Dr. Ron Eby, fire and motion sensors went off in the clinic around 8:30 p.m. The sensors are monitored by a surveillance company which picked up the alarm and called the clinic. Because the facility was closed the call was forwarded to a staff member while the surveillance company placed a call to 911. Meanwhile Eby, whose home is close to the clinic, heard the alarm and ran to the building thinking a live-in cat had gotten out and set off the alarm, which had happened before.
He quickly realized that was not the case and rushed to unlock all the doors to make access easier for firefighters and to get inside himself but was thwarted at every point by acrid smoke.
“It was frustrating,” Eby reported. “I was really worried about the dogs and was frantic to get in; but the smoke was so thick there was just no way. The fire was centralized in the treatment area in the middle of the clinic and not widespread, but it made a huge amount of heavy smoke.”
Green Forest and Berryville Fire Departments both arrived on scene with Green Forest taking the lead, stopping the blaze before any structural damage occurred. One dog, two stray kittens, and a cat waiting to be spayed and homed were found deceased. The surviving animals, including a puppy on oxygen, were moved to the adjoining large animal barn.
“The animals don’t appear to have any lasting damage,” Eby said. “Though it was just chaos for a while. Staffers, some with their families, neighbors, all kinds of people just showed up out of the blue to help clean up debris the night of the fire – including veterinarians Dr. Buchanan and Dr. Rice who offered to take animals to their clinics in Berryville. I don’t even know how they all heard about it so fast. I was fine until somebody hugged me. It was sad for the animals, and that outpouring of support was such a good feeling it made me break down a bit. I’m just a big sap.”
Eby expects a visit this week from the insurance inspector. Meanwhile his best guess is the fire started from an electrical issue. “Every room in the clinic has been affected by the smoke,” he said. “Firemen did their best and I’m sure they saved my building. There was no structural damage, except for a heater vent right above the fire. Our builder had suggested we use a thicker fire-retardant sheet rock and that probably kept fire from getting through the ceiling. It’s hard to think that we’re really lucky, but we really are in the big picture.”
Meanwhile, St. Francis Veterinary Clinic is back in operation. The staff has set up an office in the large animal facility and are seeing their smaller patients there and continuing with scheduled surgeries.
“We’re back in business but it’s going to be quite some time before we’re back to normal,” Eby said. “We have to get everything cleaned and repainted but companies who do this, like Serve Pro, are behind because of recent storm damage. I’ve had lots of people volunteer it we need it, and I really appreciate the support from the community. It’s a real formidable mess to clean up.”
St. Francis Veterinary Clinic can be reached at (870) 423-2630.