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First responders save life of dog in Jefferson Street house fire
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Warren Fire Department and Clemente Ambulance Co. saved the life of a pregnant pit bull terrier Sunday morning while responding to a house fire at 1387 Jefferson St. SW.
No humans were there when firefighters responded to the 11:03 a.m. call, but while conducting a routine search, they found the pit bull unconscious on a bedroom floor.
A firefighter removed the dog from the home and handed it off to ambulance personnel, who gave the dog oxygen and revived it.
“The pit bull was up and running around after being resuscitated,” Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle said.
An ambulance responds to all Warren fires to ensure quick treatment of any fire victims or firefighters, Nussle said, adding that firefighters didn’t know when they got there whether anyone was inside the house.
The fire caused $30,000 damage to the one-story home and $10,000 to its contents. A cause has not been determined. The structure, owned by Pamela Roupe, had smoke and fire damage throughout.
Meanwhile, the Warren Fire Department has ruled the cause as undetermined for the fire that killed Richard Brugler, 85, on Jan. 22 at his home on Beechcrest Street Northwest.
Nussle said it’s likely that the fire began as a result of smoking in the first-floor rec room of the house. Neighbors said Brugler sometimes smoked in that room, and firefighters believe that is where Brugler was when the fire was reported.
Brugler got himself out of the house by the time firefighters arrived, and a neighbor found him on the back stoop, but he had suffered smoke inhalation and died Thursday in the burn unit of Akron Children’s Hospital.
His wife, Jeanne, was rescued by Warren firefighters, who were assisted by the neighbors. She went to the same hospital and is recovering.
Richard Brugler was president and chief engineer at Heltzel Co., where he was employed for 40 years before retiring in 1993. He then served as a consultant until 1999.