Three dogs die in Aurora house fire

Three dogs perished in a house fire Thursday morning in Aurora.

Firefighters were called at 8:30 a.m. to a report of a blaze in a house at 749 Foran Lane.

The fire appeared to have started in the living room at the front of the house, Battalion Chief Larry Hankes said.

"When we arrived, it was fully involved," he said. "It blew out the front windows, so the fire had to be going for quite a while before anybody noticed."

It took only a few minutes to put the fire out, and firefighters discovered the dogs after it was extinguished.

Hankes said the cause of death hadn't been determined but probably was related to the heavy smoke throughout the house.

The owners weren't home at the time of the fire.

"The homeowner was very disturbed about the dogs," Hankes said.

The cause is still being determined, he said. Damage is estimated at $85,000 for the house and $15,000 for its contents.