Family Mourns Loss Of Pets After Dog Accidentally Sparks Harford House Fire

BELCAMP, MD — A family is mourning the loss of their beloved dog and two cats after another pet accidentally started a fire in their Harford County home's kitchen.

The incident happened shortly after 5:30 p.m. July 10 at the Ellis home, which is located at 4319 Foxglove Ct. in Belcamp.

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The family credits their Ring camera for capturing the incident, which allowed Chad Ellis to call for help and rush back to his home.

"It saved my two dogs. It really did. It's worth its money in gold. We wouldn't have any dogs at all right now, and this would be burned to the ground if it hadn't been for Ring because I would've been another 45 minutes at least," he said. "[My neighbor] wouldn't have been here to let the dogs out. Who knows when a neighbor would've seen it? It would've taken the fire department another 20 minutes to get here, and all this damage was done in about 20 minutes. My dogs were gone in 20 minutes."

Footage captured by the Ring camera showed the family dog, a rescue named Bo, counter surfing and jumping on the kitchen counter. The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal believes Bo accidentally turned on the toaster, igniting nearby combustibles.

Owner Chad Ellis told CBS News (WJZ) he thinks Bo was trying to reach bread stored inside a nearby bread box on the counter. Ellis had just left the home 15 minutes before the fire broke out.

"He's a counter surfer—always has been—but you don't think about stuff like that," Ellis said. "It was an absolute freak accident. I guess the lesson we're going to learn the hard way is to unplug appliances that aren't being used. I saw the fire literally next to the refrigerator, saw the knucklehead Bo jumping on the counter, then I came back as fast as I could. By the time I got here, there were two trucks from the fire department here."

More than two dozen firefighters with the Abingdon Fire Company responded to the fire. It took firefighters approximately 20 minutes to gain control of the fire.

Neighbors rescued Bo and another dog, Addie. But a third dog, Dakota, and two Maine coon-mix cats - Kayce and Beth - died in the fire. The home sustained extensive damage from the fire, soot, smoke and water, officials noted.

"When I got up here, my neighbor had just let my other two dogs out, and they ran out," Ellis told CBS News. "I tried to go in the back door to go up the stairs to get the other animals, and I couldn't get in the house. It was too smoky. Dakota was our heartbeat. She was amazing. She was only three years old."

The family doesn't blame Bo and calls the fire a "freak accident."

"We love our dog. Bo did not do anything he hadn't done normally," Ellis said.

Shannon Ellis' sisters Kim, Amanda and Sara Schantz have created a GoFundMe to help out the family, which includes Shannon, Chad, their daughters and a son, as well as a bearded dragon named Yoda who spent hours in the intensive care unit, plus dogs Bo and Addie.

The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal has estimated loss of contents at $50,000 and damage to the structure at $150,000.

"The damage is extensive with next to nothing salvageable. While we are incredibly grateful that our nieces and nephew were not home at the time and that courageous neighbors were able to rescue their beloved dogs, Bo and Addie, their family also experienced heartbreaking losses. They lost their sweet dog, Dakota, as well as their precious cats, Kayce and Beth," the sister wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Related:

Dog Sparks Kitchen Fire, Causing $200K In Damage To Home