A fire in a Nanuet duck coop yesterday morning killed three beloved pets who had been with their host family from the time they were just chicks.

Trent Porter says his family had built a shed to house seven ducks that they were raising at their home on North Middletown Road. On Monday night, they turned on a floorboard heating system to keep the ducks warm and, according to investigators, it appears that shavings used by the birds to make their nests smoldered with the added heat, eventually igniting the coop.

"It's painful. No one likes to lose a pet, particularly when you feel a bit responsible," Porter says. "We thought we were giving them a good life, a yard to run around in, a shed for protection at night. They were happy ducks."