A family lost all eight of their pets in a house fire that destroyed all of their personal belongings and caused heavy damage to their Zion home on Monday.
The Winthrop Harbor Fire Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 2:30 p.m. Monday to the 9700 block of 17th Street in unincorporated Zion for a report of a structure fire.
Firefighters arrived and found smoke showing from the rear of a single-story ranch-style home. The fire originated in the kitchen and spread throughout the residence.
Drake McCune, who lives in the home, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that he and his girlfriend were at work when the fire started.
“We were at work, we lost everything but most sadly we lost all of our animals,” he said.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and McCune said that he was informed all of their pets who were inside the home had died.
McCune said that eight pets died in total, including their two puppies, three cats and three kittens.
A GoFundMe created to help raise money for the couple has already raised over $8,000.
“There was just nothing left inside the home besides the remains of this devastating fire. We are not people who ask for help, but this was uncontrollable and this fire took everything from us, from our greatest and most prized form of love in our pets, to our very last pair or socks,” McCune said.
“The funds raised will be used towards food, clothes, furniture, blankets, and other necessities that we will need moving forward. We realize that all materialistic items can be replaced, but the love, and joy and kisses that we received every moment of every day from our animals can not be,” he said in the GoFundMe.
Firefighters believe it was an electrical fire that started near the outlet where the stove was plugged into, McCune said, adding that fire officials will most likely be ruling the fire as accidental.