Three occupants avoided injury in a Tuesday afternoon house fire on Greensboro Street.
Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough told the SDN that three pets died in the blaze - two cats and a dog.
"We got here and it was involved fully in the back of the house," he said. "We got the fire knocked down pretty quick after about five minutes. We did lose some pets, but everyone at the house is relatively fine."
Josh Daughtry, 25, is one of the occupants of the house, and said the three of them had been gone for half an hour before returning to find their house in flames.
"We just left the house for 30 minutes to pick up my mom and drop her off at Crossgates and we came back 30 minutes later and there's already fire trucks and cops everywhere, and the house is on fire."
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.