A little white dog lost its life in a Tuesday morning house fire at 578 Maloney Ave. in Oxford Township.

According to Fire Chief Pete Scholz, no one was home when a fire broke out inside the chimney connected to a wood stove. It spread to the surrounding structure.

“It pretty much gutted the room,” the chief said. “It was actually kind of like a combined kitchen-living room area. The fire was confined to that area in the attic space above it.”

Scholz estimated the fire caused “close to $80,000 worth of damage.”

A truck driver with the Road Commission for Oakland County spotted the fire and reported it.

“We had it knocked down in probably 10 minutes,” Scholz said.

Firefighters found the little dog inside the house and attempted to revive it in the back of an ambulance, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Firefighters and trucks from Brandon, Orion and Addison townships provided mutual aid at the scene and by covering Oxford’s stations.