Fire threatens vet clinic
Employee suffers from smoke inhalation, animals safe from blaze
Covered in water, soot and dirty debris, Gallup fire fighter Casey Franchot removes his protective head-gear to get a breath of fresh air Monday after battling a fire in the ceiling of the Red Rock Animal Hospital on Boardman Avenue in Gallup. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — A Red Rock Animal Hospital employee was treated for smoke inhalation Monday as the result of a small fire at a residence connected to the facility.

Victoria Ahasteen-Benallie, a veterinarian assistant for Red Rock Animal Hospital, said she was hooked up to oxygen for two hours as a form of treatment of smoke inhalation, but sustained no serious injuries.

“My chest really started to hurt,” Ahasteen-Benallie said. “ ... Other than that, I was just queasy.”

Benallie tried to extinguish a portion of the fire that started in the residence that is connected to the animal hospital. The blaze reportedly started in a wood stove and traveled to the roof at about 11 a.m.

City firefighters arrived at the Boardman Avenue scene a short time later and extinguished the fire that was contained to a small area of the attached veterinarian’s residence.

Animals housed at the hospital portion of the facility were not evacuated because the blaze did not travel from the residence.

“The animals were never in jeopardy,” Dr. Len Jenson, a veterinarian at the clinic, said. “ ... They are all safe.”

The blaze did not cause damage to the hospital.

“We were very thankful to firefighters for their quick response,” Jenson said.

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January 22, 2008
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