EAST STROUDSBURG -- A fire broke out at a home on the corner of East Third and Courtland Streets in East Stroudsburg Friday Afternoon.
"I looked out, I saw smoke coming out of the roof and the door," Elmer Robbins of East Stroudsburg said.
Firefighters said when they first got there they believed there were people trapped inside.
"We were told that there was an elderly individual in the right-hand side of the building and we did a primary and secondary search and found no one there," Acme Hose Company Number 1 Chief Dale Fetterly said.
Firefighters said there were at least nine pets that died in the blaze including a dog, cat, two rabbits, a few rodents and a lizard.
"All the pets weren't found immediately," Fetterly said. "So, we had to lift some furniture up and look in some cubicle areas to find all the pets."
Neighbors Newswatch 16 spoke with said they didn't even know there were pets in the house.
"I don't even know their name," Robbins said. "I'll be honest. And, I didn't know they had any pets."
"We could see them coming in and out but we never ever saw pets," Arlie Wolbert of East Stroudsburg said.
Firefighters put out the flames in about 20 minutes. They're calling it an accidental saying the cause was electrical.
"It's an older building," Fetterly said. "There's two different types of electrical wiring in it. A mouse could've gotten in and chewed the insulation off... who knows."
Neighbors tell Newswatch 16 with this time of year, there are a lot of fires, they're happy it wasn't worse.
"I'm just glad nobody got hurt," Wolbert said.
Firefighters said there is still one cat unaccounted for in the fire.
