North Fort Myers fire destroys home, kills 5 pets

A North Fort Myers home was destroyed after a fire erupted in the building, killing two dogs and three cats,

Craig Welker lives on Higgins Road. He was home when authorities arrived on Saturday night.

“I was just laying in the house relaxing a little bit,” he said. “Then I heard a bunch of the sirens and stuff from trucks. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. As they got closer and closer down the road, there’s four of them that ended up pulling up.”

Then, Welker spotted smoke erupting from his neighbor’s home. Neighbors reached out to the homeowner, Donna Arnolds, who was out of town, and told her the heart-wrenching news that her five pets had died in the flames.

The fire is still under investigation.

“I’m kind of guessing that it might have been electrical or structural stuff. I heard that it was something that started from an AC unit. That just shorted out or something,” said Welker.