Three cats in Bridgeport were killed Wednesday in a house fire.

The fire broke out on Sanford Place while the tenant was not home.

Officials say they believe the fire started in the kitchen and are investigating if hoarding inside the apartment contributed to the fire.

"It's much more difficult to get into the apartment itself to open up the door," said Assistant Chief Scott Floss, of the Bridgeport Fire Department. "Sometimes we try to open the door -- and there are items packed behind the door, which makes it harder to even get in the apartment -- and then once in the apartment there are maybe one or two paths that we have to walk through to get to where we need to go. It just makes it that much more dangerous for us."

Officials say the apartment had minimal damage.