HAMILTON TWP., Pa. -- A Monroe County man and his dog are dead, following a fire at their home.
But a woman was pulled out of the burning home alive. State Police troopers made the rescue overnight in Hamilton Township, near Stroudsburg.
Neighbors say the woman cared for her middle-aged son, who was in a wheelchair, the result of a car accident.
The victims haven't been officially ID'd but the tragic incident is bringing neighbors together.
“We were here when he got Buster, we knew how much he loved Buster.”
Family friends Joe and Gloria Sullivan arrived to retrieve the body of Buster, the family's now deceased dog. Instead of the bulldog being taken to a mass grave, they are taking him to an animal crematorium. This, after a fire tore through the Hamilton Township home, which also took the life of Buster's owner.
Joe would often drive him around in his classic car.
“I would take him out for ice cream because he was paraplegic, he couldn't do these things for himself,” Joe recalled.
Police say the fire started just after 2 a.m., inside an old, now burned-out farmhouse on North Easton Belmont Pike. They say a woman, man, and dog lived inside the home.
“When I arrived on scene, it was a fully involved house fire. On the way there, I had confirmation two people entrapped,” said Assistant Chief of Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder Paul Warnick.
He added calls for help were coming from the burning home.
State police say troopers were able to get inside and rescue the woman from the first floor.
The man and his dog were also on the first floor but didn't make it out.
“When you see the house behind you, what you do think?” I asked neighbor and friend Bill Altos.
“Terrible. I drove to church, talked to my pastor, we had a prayer,” he said.
He and fellow neighbors Judy Houck and Bill Altemose said the victim's mother cared for him since a car accident made him wheelchair bound decades ago. And he would often sit outside with his dog Buster by his side.
"My granddaughter and I would stop and talk to him as we went on walks,” said Houck, adding he was nice to talk to.
As for Gloria and Joe, retrieving Buster doesn’t bring back his owner but does bring a sense of dignity to a tragedy.
As of now the victims haven’t been publicly identified. The woman was taken to the hospital for burn injuries. The troopers who saved her were also treated for minor injuries.
A cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Source:
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/poconos-coal/man-dead-woman-rescued-from-burning-home-in-monroe-county/article_1c4d119c-fd87-11ee-b1af-a3cad2f2fea1.html
