Happy Cat Sanctuary fire that killed beloved NY owner, 100 cats wasn’t arson: officials
The fire at a Long Island animal sanctuary that killed its owner and at least 100 cats has been deemed not suspicious, authorities said.
Arson is not suspected as the cause of the tragic blaze that destroyed the Happy Cat Sanctuary Monday, killing animal rescuer Chris Arsenault as he tried to rescue his beloved felines, the Brookhaven Fire Marshal announced, according to reports.
Detectives from the homicide and arson squads were originally investigating the cause of the blaze, police confirmed.
But the cause is now officially “undetermined,” which means that the inferno was not deemed suspicious, CBS New York reported.
The blaze is believed to have started indoors, according to Brookhaven Fire Marshal Chris Mehrmann who told CBS authorities “cannot rule out a fire caused by propane-fed portable heaters that were in the area of fire origin.”
Arsenault had converted his Medford home into the Happy Cat Sanctuary, where he housed at least 300 felines.
Holes that were cut into the walls and floors for the cats helped the fire spread, Mehrmann said.
Authorities said the blaze started around 7:15 a.m. March 31. Firefighters had the Dourland Road fire under control by 8:35 a.m., but not before the sanctuary had burned to rubble.
Brookhaven officials said they had been working with Arsenault to resolve code violations before the fire broke out, though it’s unclear what specific issues they were addressing.
There’s no limit to how many cats people in the area can own.
Surviving felines could be spotted roaming around the charred rubble this week and rescuers set up feeding stations as they tried to corral them, according to the outlet.
Strong Island Animal Rescue League has located more than 30 cats and transferred them to animal hospitals for treatment.
“Some of them are in critical condition, some of them burned whiskers, some of them have burns on their paws, smoke inhalation,” Frankie Floridia of Strong Island Animal Rescue League told the outlet.
The remaining 150 cats will be transported or donated to a warehouse, and the Suffolk County SPCA will bring a mobile veterinary hospital to the scene to provide medical care.
Arsenault, 65, happened upon a colony of 30 sickly cats and kittens by the train tracks near his home — changing his life forever, as well as the lives of hundreds of cats over the years to come.
The retired NJ Transit conductor started the cat sanctuary in 2006 after he lost his 24-year-old son, Eric, in a motorcycle accident, and was in desperate need of solace from his pain.
He took the strays in and nursed them back to health, which to his surprise, helped him slowly begin to heal after the lowest point of his life.
“After my son died, those cats gave me something to do,” Arsenault told the Daily Mail in 2018.
Eventually, he transformed his entire home and yard into what would later become Happy Cat Sanctuary, keeping only his eight-by-12-foot bedroom for himself — where he both ate and slept.
He purchased additional property in 2007 as the operation expanded, where he provided everything a wayward kitty could ever need, from heated perches to hammocks.
Arsenault spayed and neutered the lucky felines that he took in and served up roast chicken dinners to his whiskered companions, who basked in safety and comfort with tummies full night after night.
“He was the most genuine and sweetest person ever — a humanitarian and a great person,” neighbor Nelly Mendoza, who called 911 to report the fire, told The Post.
A GoFundMe account had raised more than $675,000 for the sanctuary and to care for the animals as of Friday.
