BATON ROUGE - The St. George Fire Department says firefighters rescued a pair of family pets while extinguishing a blaze that started at a house in the 16100 block of Batavia Avenue Friday night.

A neighbor reported seeing smoke coming from attic vents, and firefighters were on the scene by 4:56 p.m. Once inside, firefighters were able to move a Pekingese and a Shih Tzu out of the burning structure. Both dogs were unharmed. The owner of the residence was not home at the time of the fire.

Firefighters said the blaze was under control by 5:17 p.m. with the flames contained mostly to the attic. The house did suffer moderate damage from fire, smoke and water though.

St. George FD reported a water line failed in the attic. Water, gas and electricity to the home were severed. Fire investigators say the fire was caused by an electrical problem likely associated with the residence’s water heater.