11 bunnies killed in tragic animal sanctuary fire in Renton

Sammamish Animal Sanctuary in Renton tragically lost eleven bunnies in a barn fire Sunday night.

“It was completely clear air then just smoke,” Erin Dore, the barn manager who lives on site, said.

She said she and her husband were alerted by the smell that something was wrong.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, the barn’s on fire, we got to go,’” she said. “Ran down the steps. I took a trip, fell down the stairs, and just kept going.”

She said smoke was billowing out of the barn, and she tried to save the eleven bunnies inside.

“I didn’t see any of the flames outside until I opened it, and it came right at me, and I’m just really lucky I still have my eyebrows,” she said.

Sadly, the barn was already engulfed in flames, and the bunnies did not survive.

“I’ve known a lot of these animals for a really long time; sorry, working here for four years, you bond with these animals and knowing some of those bunnies personally and growing up with them because I worked here in high school, and it was heartbreaking,” she said.

Kathi Flynn credits Dore for saving the sanctuary.

“It was so close, so close to this barn, and we are so lucky they were here,” Flynn said.

Dore used a hose to try to keep the fire from spreading while her husband called 911.

“I started hosing up the roof and the surrounding buildings to keep that from getting on fire, and we had a lot of animals out there, and we had the horses in here, and I couldn’t get them anywhere else,” Dore said.

She was able to save five bunnies outside the barn, and aside from a few singed whiskers, they weren’t hurt.

“That was my main concern was making sure everyone was okay,” she said.

Flynn said the fire department told her this was an electrical fire and called it an accident.

“We are just so extremely grateful to Eastside Fire Department because had it not been for them and getting here so quickly, we would not have a sanctuary, and we are forever indebted to them,” Flynn said.

The sanctuary is in need of donations and volunteers so if you’d like to help, click here.

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