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Couple thankful for heroics of cop
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Cecil Ford, rescued by a police officer from his burning Wick Street home Nov. 14, is back in the hospital, receiving treatment for lung and heart problems aggravated by the fire.
He and his wife, Amy, are also uncertain about whether their homeowner’s insurance will pay to fix the roughly $40,000 in damage to the house.
But Amy says she and Cecil had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at her brother’s house Thursday, and they still have things to be thankful for.
“I still got all my kitties and Cecil, and the dog,” Amy said Friday afternoon as she returned to the house to meet with a contractor.
The controller for a heating pad started the fire in Amy’s upstairs bedroom. The couple tried to put it out with water, but they had to make trips up and down the stairs to get the water.
In an interview by telephone, Cecil said the couple’s dog actually found the kittens in the garage. Cecil carried them to the fenced area of their back yard and closed the door to the house so they couldn’t get back in. They have more than a dozen cats.
The next thing he remembers is when Warren police officer Joseph Wilson rescued him.
Wilson said he found Cecil face-down inside the smoky house, threw him over his shoulder and hauled him out. Wilson said his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan while in the Army probably guided him in what to do.
“I couldn’t breathe,” Cecil said, adding that he thought he was probably going to die.
“I went back in to save some kitties that I love,” Cecil said of the reason he went in the house after having escaped initially with Amy.
Wilson’s commanding officer has credited Wilson with saving Ford’s life, and Warren City Council is expected to honor Wilson on Wednesday with a resolution honoring him.
Cecil Ford believes Wilson saved his life.
“The guy was good. He was beautiful. I would like to meet him and to thank him,” Cecil said.