Dogs revived after fire
CLAY TWP — Two dogs had to be revived after a small fire started in the kitchen of a trailer home in Clay Township.
Emergency services responded to the fire at 6:21 p.m. Monday to a rented trailer at 134 Webb Road. No one was home at the time, officials said.
“There was a small fire in the kitchen when we got on scene,” said Matt Wilson, West Sunbury fire chief. Wilson said the fire probably started with the microwave.
Nathan Wulff, Unionville fire chief, said the fire was located at an outlet in the upper cabinet of the kitchen.
The home was filled with smoke when Wulff, along with his lieutenant, Zach Clark, entered the building and found two dogs unconscious. The firefighters carried the dogs to an ambulance for treatment.
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“One dog was in a cage in really close proximity to the fire. The other dog was in a bedroom,” Wulff said. “I give a lot of credit to the EMS. (The dogs) were down and out and they brought them back.”
Treating the two animals, a Lab/shepherd mix named Lola and a Rottweiler named Pup, were Michele Mellish, an EMT, and Michael Graham, a paramedic for Butler Ambulance Service. Both professionals said it was their first time treating a dog. They received advice by phone from Butler Veterinary Associates and Emergency Center on Route 8.
“They were both treated with oxygen and albuterol,” said Mellish as Lola rested on her lap and lapped up water from a bedpan.
The home is rented by Cassie Crater and her boyfriend, David Steiner, who were both watching the North Washington Rodeo parade when they received a call about the fire. The couple sent family members who lived nearby ahead to check on the dogs while they hurried home.
When she arrived, Crater ran down the road to the ambulance and climbed inside and sat with her pets to comfort them.
By the time she arrived, both dogs were responsive and awake. Pops was energetic and alert, walking around the ambulance while Lola sat quietly between Mellish and Crater and needed to be carried to a truck to be taken to see a veterinarian at the Route 8 clinic.
The home suffered heavy smoke and water damage, Wilson said, but he was not sure of the extent of fire damage.
According to Crater, the couple does not have renter's insurance and they aren't sure what they are going to do now. She's just happy her dogs are OK.
Departments responding to the fire were West Sunbury, Unionville, Slippery Rock and Prospect.
Wulff said the result of this fire would have been much worse, if the windows and the doors of the trailer weren't shut.
“The big thing I noticed that prevented that fire was that the trailer was sealed up,” he said. “It limited the oxygen in the space and gave us enough time.”
