A man and “numerous” cats were killed Monday morning in a fire at a Long Island animal sanctuary.
The fire occurred around 7 a.m. in Medford, according to the Suffolk County Police Department. Christopher Arsenault, 65, was found dead in the destroyed home after firefighters were able to get the flames under control, officials said.
The Strong Island Animal Rescue League said the home was also the Happy Cat Sanctuary and between 100 and 300 cats were at the scene. Some of the cats had access to the outdoors and made it outside.
It’s unclear how many died, but the nonprofit organization it would help foster the surviving animals. The Suffolk County SPCA is also helping to rehome the cats.
“There are plenty of healthy cats,” Brookhaven fire marshal Christopher J. Mehrman told PIX 11.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but arson is not suspected.
Witnesses told NBC New York they heard an explosive boom and saw Arsenault run outside trying to put out the fire before going back inside, presumably to try and rescue some of the cats.
“He started the sanctuary 15 years ago. This was his life,” Lisa Jaeger, who helped Arsenault, told the station. “He gave his life to save these cats.”
Arsenault was currently in the process of moving himself and the no-kill cat adoption agency to upstate New York.
According to the Happy Cat Sanctuary website, Arsenault began rescuing cats in 2006 following the death of his 24-year-old son Eric in a motorcycle accident.
