A fire devastated Moab National Bark, a dog daycare and boarding facility, on Saturday, Oct. 26, killing two dogs, severely injuring another that is in critical condition and causing significant damage to the building, according to officials.
Moab Valley Fire Chief TJ Brewer said the cause of the fire remains unknown, but they’re “getting close” to figuring it out.
A local family and a tourist family lost their dogs in the fire, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up to support the business and families affected by the tragedy.
A third dog, named Sedona, was found unconscious by the rescue team, but after being resuscitated, was alert when en route to a veterinarian that night. The 7-year-old yellow labradoodle is fighting for its life as of Tuesday afternoon.
She is now struggling with severe lung damage from smoke inhalation and burns in addition to developing a high fever, according to her owner, Karrie Hendricks.
“This has been very difficult because none of [our family] have been in town, and we’re doing the best we can to communicate with the veterinarian on her status,” she said.
Hendricks’ daughter drove from Grand Junction to be with Sedona and the rest of the family is coming back to Moab today.
“They want to keep her calm and under oxygen, so that’s been difficult to just not be there with her around the clock,” Hendricks said. “Right now, they’re not sure if she’ll make it through, but they’re trying everything they can.”
The fire inflicted considerable damage on the facility, which is run by local residents and animal lovers Katie Hack and Dave Borza. The GoFundMe campaign has raised over $2,000 of its $10,000 goal as of Monday.
The Moab Valley Fire Department responded to the fire shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday. Their search crew took roughly five minutes to rescue the dogs they could from the building as other firefighters extinguished the fire simultaneously in a similar timeframe.
“I’m proud of our guys, I was impressed — it’s hard to say that when we lost two dogs, but they did a good job from arrival to extinguishment and getting the dogs out of there in a timely manner,” Brewer said.
-Andrew Christiansen
This is a developing story. Check for updates from The Times-Independent.
