Twelve dogs perished in a house fire in Canterbury on Thursday, the fire chief confirmed.

The fire broke out at 1 N. Canterbury Rd. around 12:15 p.m., according to fire chief Jason Matteau.

Matteau said the cause was electrical. It started in the basement.

A little more than 40 minutes into the fight, firefighters said the interior floors and roof became unstable and showed signs of potential collapse.

All firefighters were ordered out of the house and they put a defense plan in place.

Shortly after 3 p.m., roughly three hours after the initial response, the scene was placed under control.

Several more hours were needed to completely extinguish hot spots.

Departments from Plainfield, Central Village, Moosup, Atwood Hose, Lisbon, Jewett City, Mortlake, Hampton, Scotland and Danielson also responded.

State police, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, Eversource and other departments and officials were also there.

No people were hurt.

However, Matteau said on Friday that 12 dogs died.