UPDATE: Upon further investigation, it was determined that the fire originated on the first floor in a closet, instead of the second floor as was originally thought, said Deputy Fire Chief Paul Sandoval. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

A fire claimed the life of a dog on Friday night.

Andrew Horn, senior in marketing, lived on the second floor of the affected building, located at 2628 Hunt St., but was not home at the time of the incident.

Chelsea Reynolds, Horn’s girlfriend and junior in pre-journalism and mass communication, said the two were at her apartment at the time of the fire. They were on their way to Horn’s apartment to let out their German shorthaired pointer, Arienette, when they saw the smoke.

By that time it was too late.

“It was like a kid to him,” Reynolds said of the dog, adding she didn’t know how they would cope with the “surreal experience.”

“[I] guess you just pick up the pieces,” she said. “It’ll be tough.”

Paul Sandoval, deputy chief of the Ames Fire Department, said the department received a call reporting the fire at approximately 8:40 p.m.

“Upon arrival, crews found smoke coming from the building and fire on the first and second floor,” he said.

Sandoval said there was “extensive damage” on the second floor but he had not evaluated the first floor at the time of the fire.

According to a press release, the amount of damage is estimated at approximately $60,000. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Sandoval said the call came from an individual who saw fire coming from the building while walking home. After he called 911, he went back to the house to warn anyone inside to get out, but no one was inside.

“We believe it started up on the second floor,” he said, adding it would not be likely anything from the second floor was salvageable.

“It’d be doubtful,” he said. “It’s pretty heavily damaged.”

Sandoval said most of the fire was controlled in about an hour.

“We chased it for quite a while,” he said. “It was just a stubborn fire to chase down.”

After the fire was contained, Horn said he was thankful to those involved with putting out the fire.

“I appreciate all the hard work that the police department and the fire department put in, and I’m glad nobody was hurt,” Horn said.