Tom Francis can still hear their cries. Cats and dogs trapped in their cages were wailing and yelping as fire destroyed much of the Jacksonville Humane Society’s Beach Boulevard campus 10 years ago in the early morning hours of April 7, 2007. Firefighters had been rushing in and out to rescue animals, but they were forced to pull back after part of the roof collapsed and one of them was injured. As firefighters focused on saving adjacent buildings, the horrific orchestra of animal sounds continued, said Francis, who was there as the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s public information officer and remains in that post today. “I haven’t heard anything like it before or since,” he said....
↧