Firefighters saved 17 dogs, including 15 puppies, from a house fire by breaking through a basement wall after hearing the dogs barking.
The fire broke out about 10:15 p.m. Thursday at 1551 Salvia Court in Golden, said Lt. Jason Nicholaou of the Pleasant View Fire Department.
The owners of the home, Linda and Walt Queen, run a business selling Yorkshire terrier puppies.
The home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, with flames shooting into the night sky. The home was gutted.
“The basement had smoke all they way down to the floor,” Nicholaou said. “The puppies were fully engulfed in the smoke; it’s a miracle they survived.”
When firefighters first arrived, flames and smoke were so intense that they could not send anyone into the home.
The Queens were spending the night at a nearby hotel as the home was undergoing renovations. Police called them at the hotel, and they rushed to the burning home.
“We told the Fire Department we had puppies in there,” Linda Queen said.
Firefighters heard barking and were able to break through a basement wall to save 15 Yorkie puppies and two adult dogs — Buddy, a 10-year-old Pekingese-poodle mix, and Pee-Wee, a 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier.
“Our dog Buddy was barking. They immediately broke in through the side of the house and started pulling them out.”
Queen was crying and praying as she anxiously awaited the fate of the dogs, she said.
The dogs are all fine but the house is a total loss.
“It’s just a devastating, sick feeling to see everything you have go up in flames,” Queen said.
The Queens had the home built about 10 years ago after picking out the lot with views of the foothills.
Pleasant View was aided by firefighters from the Golden Fire Department and West Metro Fire Protection District. About 30 firefighters put out the blaze. None was injured.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Meanwhile, the puppies are wagging their tails and bouncing around.
“They are all alive and well, amazingly,” Nicholaou said. “We honestly can’t explain it — it’s a miracle.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
