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An early morning fire Friday severely damaged an Austin home and claimed the lives of five pets at the residence.

According to Austin Fire Chief Jim McCoy, the Austin Fire Department received a call of a house fire at about 5:18 a.m. Friday morning.

Updates from Mower County Dispatch indicated that there were people still trapped on the third floor of the residence. Two of the individuals were able to use a window to escape and drop down to a second  level balcony. They were eventually able to escape completely with the help of neighbors and Austin Police officers. 

McCoy said the fire was located in a second floor bedroom, however, there was smoke and water damage to all levels of the house.

The fire was quickly extinguished upon the fire department’s arrival, however, a search of the house turned up three dogs and two cats, all deceased.

The State Fire Marshal is sending an investigator to try to determine a cause.  There is no damage estimate at this time.