Fireworks Spark House Fire That Kills Pet Dog: Fire Officials

Spent fireworks that were set off as part of one family's Fourth of July celebrations in Gilbert, Arizona, likely later reignited after being disposed of, leaving a pet dog dead.

Fire crews were called to a home in the Phoenix suburb around midnight local time on Wednesday after the family, who has not been named, woke up to the sound of smoke detectors going off, according to local reports.

Officials said the family thought they had done everything to correctly douse the used pyrotechnics, but the fireworks had not been soaked for long enough to prevent reigniting.

An increasing number of cities are turning to drone shows instead of fireworks displays to mark Independence Day, over concerns about the risk of fire and their effect on the environment at a time when extreme dry conditions are increasing the likelihood of wildfires.

A massive wildfire that began on June 27 and spanned 2,500 acres at its peak—which officials said was believed to be human-caused—spread rapidly across a rural area near Scottsdale, Arizona, leading to the temporary evacuation of over 1,000 residents.

Local news station CBS 5 reported that between 30-45 firefighters rushed to the scene after the alarm was raised.

Fire officials said the family had doused the fireworks with a hose and placed them in a bucket of water until they were cool to the touch, before disposing of them in an outside garbage can—but this was still not enough to stop them from reigniting.

"They put water on them, they were cool to the touch, but those will still continue to build heat," one firefighter at the scene told the outlet, adding that placing them "in a closed container like that with nothing to cool them" was "a recipe for the disaster we see here tonight."

Mark Justus, Gilbert Fire Department's deputy chief, told ABC 15 that the garbage can that the family had placed the spent fireworks in had been sitting against the side of their house. When the fireworks reignited, the flames spread up the outside of the house before making their way into the attic.

Footage of the house the following day showed the front boarded up with the roof caved in, the timber frame collapsed beneath.

"They went to bed without a concern," Justus told the news channel. "They absolutely thought that they were doing everything right."

ABC 15 said the family was too distraught to comment on camera, but said they had celebrated July 4 with their children using legal fireworks.

Another local news channel, Fox 10, reported they had now been displaced by the fire but had recently made sure their smoke detectors were working—which officials said had likely saved their life.

One of the attending firefighters described the incident as "heart-breaking" to the outlet "because they though they were doing everything they could," adding that the other contents of the garbage can may have aided the combustion.

Newsweek approached Gilbert Fire Department via email for comment on Thursday.

Ahead of Independence Day, Gilbert Fire Department had urged residents to dispose of fireworks by soaking them in a bucket of water for "at least" 24 hours, and to double-wrap the spent pyrotechnics in plastic bags afterwards.

It also recommended keeping the trash container used for discarding fireworks at least 3 feet away from any standing structures to avoid the risk of a fire spreading.