A fire tore through Tiki Kiti and Poni Rescue in Palm Beach County on Friday night, killing three special needs cats and leaving the founder with a warning for others about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.
Dana Caplan, who founded the rescue in 2012, said she believes a pool cleaner she purchased off Temu may have sparked the blaze while she left it charging.
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"I plugged it in like I do every single night and didn't think anything of it until I heard an explosion," Caplan said. “I started getting the cats that are very disabled. They’re blind and deaf and brain-injured and housed in carriers and got them into my car,” said Caplan.
The explosion ignited a cat cabana on the property, killing three beloved senior special needs cats named Tedy, Bella and Prince.
“Prince was born here. He was the one that was burned and was still alive until we got him to ACCESS,” said Caplan. She says Prince had to be euthanized at the veterinarian's due to his injuries.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control quickly, saving the lives of 13 other cats at the rescue.
"They did get this building under control very quickly thank God, because there were a lot of cats there," Caplan said.
Tiki Kiti and Poni Rescue serves as a sanctuary for abused, abandoned, sick, special needs and neglected animals, including cats, dogs and horses. Caplan, who is disabled, now faces costs to rebuild, damage to her home and lost supplies while waiting to hear from her insurance company. She started a fundraiser to help ease expenses.
Walking through what remains of the rescue, Caplan described the toll the loss has taken. " I don't know what to do," Caplan said. “I haven’t been able to sleep because I always think it’s going to catch on fire again and something horrible is going to happen.”
Firefighters determined the pool cleaner's lithium-ion battery had possibly gone into thermal runaway, causing the fire. Caplan hopes her experience serves as a warning to others.
"This is a very hard lesson to learn," Caplan said. "This is our biggest fear: fire. I’m really struggling with this right now.”
