A man was sent to the hospital and his two dogs rescued, after a fire broke out in his apartment on Tucson's north side.
Fire crews arrived at the scene, in the 200 block of East Ft. Lowell Road, at about 4:45 p.m., after receiving a 911 call about a gasoline fire, said Capt. Barrett Baker, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.
The resident, a man in his 60s, met firefighters at the front door, but told them that his dogs were still trapped inside. Several crews entered the apartment, and the dogs were quickly found and taken outside.
Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center, which is located across the street from the apartment, volunteered to help the dogs, and the resident taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation and singeing of his facial hair, Baker said.
It took nine units and 23 firefighters 12 minutes to extinguish the fire, which consumed the apartment's entire kitchen.
Fire investigators have learned that the man was storing gasoline cans inside the apartment, one of which was leaking. When he turned on his stove for heating purposes, the gas vapors ignited, burning him and starting the kitchen fire, Baker said.
A damage estimate has yet to be determined.
