Animal Hospital Relocates, Plans to Rebuild

LONGVIEW — A fire at the Kimbrough Animal Hospital on Judson Road left 38 animals dead. Longview fire officials say an electrical issue in the office was to blame. Pet owners and the community as a whole have felt the impact. According to KETK, Kenneth Kimbrough built the animal hospital in 1980. For customers and staff, it became a second home over the decades, just adding to the devastation. “We live here half the time, but you know I always say that people, veterinarians, love people and they love their pets,” the owner said. Other clinics in town have contacted Kimbrough to offer their facilities. “It is a great profession and all of my veterinarian buddies in town are supporting us.”

Wednesday morning, dozens showed up the animal hospital as crews still worked to clean up. Among the people there, were not only pet owners affected by the fire, but members of the community as well to offer moral support. “Our clients are pouring out here and coming and supporting us. I tell you, last night the firefighters were fantastic and they were pulling our pets out and the whole crew came up and we were trying to resuscitate them and do all we could.”

Even though his clinic went up in flames, Kimbrough was more concerned about his patients. “We are just trying to get a hold of them today and taking care of the main business there first. Like I have been telling everybody, we can rebuild this facility, so that’s not a deal. We just lost a lot of our little old companion pets.”

One loyal customer came to offer prayers and support to anyone who needed it. Patricia Binkley-Childress said she has taken her pets there for years and because Dr. Kimbrough has been there for her, she said it was time to pay it back. “He is just a wonderful doctor. He calls and spends time on you on the phone when you are grieving and you know he just has a heart for animals and a heart for people.”

The Longview Fire Department arrived on scene after ten p.m. Tuesday after a witness called in the burning building. Fire Marshal, Johnny Zackary, said half the crew worked on the flames, the other tried to save the animals. “Unfortunately,” said Zackary, “the roof started collapsing so the fire crews had to be pulled out for their safety.” Out of 40, only two animals survived. Zackary said the majority of the others died of smoke inhalation. The fire department said the cause of the fire was an electrical issue that started in the office. For now, the hospital is running a temporary hospital next door out of a pet grooming center. Kimbrough said they are already working with insurance companies and they will rebuild.

The community is rallying behind Kimbrough and a Go Fund Me account has been set up to help. In just eight hours it raised nearly $8,000. Go to http://www.gofundme.com/w4c2vq8 to donate. Also, The Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation has made a substantial pledge to the animal hospital. To help the clinic rebuild, the organization has awarded $2,500 as an emergency contribution and will match up to $10,000 made through the TVMF website. Any funds surpassing the mark will still be sent to Dr. Kimbrough and the hospital in their efforts to start over. TVMF instructs anyone donating to go to https://tvma.azurewebsites.net/Affiliates/TVMF/Donations and click “disaster” under the Foundation Program drop-down box.