ATWATER -- An early morning fire Friday killed more than 60 cats at a sanctuary on Bailey Road that was built to save them.
When Renate Schmitz, founder of Last Hope Cat Kingdom, got up at 1 a.m. to check on her dogs, she smelled the smoke coming from the sanctuary behind her house.
It didn't take long before she saw her recently furnished office, at one end of the building, burning. Smoke from the fire was sucked through the ventilation system and filled the rooms that housed cats.
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY BEA AHBECK Leah Brown and husband Chris, of Turlock, snuggles one of the ten cats they will foster until they can return to the Last Hope Cat Kingdom, where an early morning fire severely damaged the office room in the building Fri, Dec. 31, 2010. Smoke from the fire spread throughout the building and killed over 60 of the shelter's cats.
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY BEA AHBECK volunteer Lyssa Anderson hugs Last Hope Cat Kingdom co-founder Renate Schmitz outside the Last Hope Cat Kingdom building Fri, Dec. 31, 2010. An early morning fire severely damaged the office room of the shelter, and smoke from the fire spread throughout the building and killed over 60 of the shelter's cats. The shelter is in need of monetary donations, volunteers to help with the aftermath, foster homes for the remaining cats until the damage has been repaired, and food, litter, blankets and battery operated lamps or a portable generator, since the power to the building will be out for the forseeable future.
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY BEA AHBECK Remnants of the fire sits outside the office room of the Last Hope Cat Kingdom building Fri, Dec. 31, 2010. An early morning fire severely damaged the room, and smoke from the fire spread throughout the building and killed over 60 of the shelter's cats.
Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR PHOTO BY BEA AHBECK Volunteer Lyssa Anderson hugs Last Hope Cat Kingdom co-founder Renate Schmitz outside the Last Hope Cat Kingdom building Fri, Dec. 31, 2010. An early morning fire severely damaged the office room of the shelter, and smoke from the fire spread throughout the building and killed over 60 of the shelter's cats.
Had Schmitz not gotten out of bed when she did, all of the cats would have died and "everything would be gone," she said.
Schmitz tried using four fire extinguishers but couldn't get any to work, she said.
Each room the cats died in had doors they could have escaped through, Schmitz said.
The cause of the fire was electrical, said Jose Quintana, fire apparatus engineer for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The damage to the sanctuary was $25,000, he said.
The department got the call at about 1 a.m., Quintana said. Firefighters had the fire extinguished in about an hour and controlled by 3 a.m.
The 2,500-square-foot shelter resembles a motor court, with separate entrances for each of the seven rooms -- five for cats, and one each for storage and Schmitz' office.
The sanctuary was the brainchild of Schmitz's daughter, Ramona. When Ramona Schmitz was killed in 2008, Renate Schmitz decided to keep the facility going in her honor.
Schmitz plans to rebuild the sanctuary, which has been open for nearly four years.
Dottie Henry, a volunteer at the shelter for more than three years, learned of the fire when she arrived Friday morning.
"It's really hard because we know all the animals," she said. "A lot of them were older cats that have been here for a long time."
A cage in one of the rooms was torn apart by a cat trying to get out, Henry noted.
Only one or two cats were in cages, she added, because they were sick. Nearly 140 cats were housed at the sanctuary, she said. Several were taken to Animal Medical Center in Merced where they're being treated for smoke inhalation.
The cats that died were taken to Franklin Pet Cemetery, where they will be cremated, Schmitz said. The company offered the service at no charge.
Those who want to help can make donations through www.lasthopesanctuary.org, by calling Henry at (209) 947-4175 or by visiting the sanctuary at 6660 Bailey Road in Atwater.
Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsun-star.com.
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