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On Friday, January 3, 2025 at around 9:15am, Dallas Fire-Rescue units were dispatched to a 911 call for a structure fire at the Plaza Latina, located at 11200 Harry Hines Blvd., in Northwest Dallas.

When firefighters arrived at the large one-story commercial building, they were met with heavy smoke and fire conditions. Recognizing that suppression efforts would be defensive early on, a second-alarm response was immediately requested; which resulted in approximately 40-45 firefighters on scene to mitigate the situation, using hand lines and three ladder pipes to surround and drown the fire from all sides.

Firefighters continued their efforts for around two hours before ultimately declaring the fire extinguished at 11:03 a.m.

The fire left behind severe structural damage, including a partial roof collapse, to the building which housed multiple small businesses.

There was a pet shop in the shopping center around the rear of the part of the structure that was directly impacted by fire.  While fire did not reach the pet shop, a great deal of smoke did enter.  While DFR personnel did search and attempt rescue, all animals in the shop unfortunately perished due to smoke inhalation.

Dallas Animal Services (DAS) were called to the scene and removed a total of 579 animals.  Most were small birds, but there were also chickens, hamsters, two (2) dogs, and two (2) cats. No exotic animals were found on the site at the time of recovery

It’s unclear how many people were at the location when the fire began, but there were no injuries reported in association with the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation.