Pet Food Fire Destroys North Carolina Office

LIBERTY, N.C. (AP) -- Bags of decomposing pet food apparently spontaneously combusted, causing a fire that destroyed the office of an animal rescue group last weekend, investigators said.

Water had apparently leaked into bags of stockpiled dog and cat food at the Happy Hills Animal Foundation, causing the food to begin rotting, fire inspector Wendell Whatley said. The decomposition process generated heat that could not escape from the stacked bags.

Investigators said some bags lower in the stacks had burned from the inside out, suggesting spontaneous combustion. There was about a ton of animal food in the building.

No animals were harmed in the blaze, officials said.

Such fires are rare, but they can occur under the right conditions. More common materials that spontaneously combust include hay, grain and sawdust.