Kitchen fire destroys Central Fresno home while homeowners were searching for lost dogs

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An early morning house fire in Central Fresno left three people without a place to live. The fire broke out just after midnight Tuesday at a home on Clay and Villa.

Firefighters knew no one was home at the time so they were able to go into an immediate offensive mode and knock out the fire. But when they arrived there was already a significant amount of fire damage.

Officials said the homeowners' dogs got out and they ran out to look for them not realizing they had left the stove on. They spent around an hour and a half looking for them and by the time they got home, what started as a kitchen fire spread throughout the center of the home to the backyard. They immediately called 911 but by the time firefighters got on scene there was already tens-of-thousands of dollars' worth of damage to the home.

Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Randy Reitz said, "Make sure the smoke detectors are working, make sure the batteries are fresh, and even replace that detector with the new version that has a longer battery life nowadays."

At this point it's unknown whether there were any working fire detectors in the home.

Firefighters said there were no injuries.