Dog credited with saving owner’s life in Denbo fire
DENBO – A Denbo man’s dog is credited with saving his owner’s life as a fast-moving fire late Thursday destroyed their home.
The dog jumped on William Knerr’s bed shortly before midnight, and the two escaped the fire through a rear window to a porch roof, where they safely jumped to the ground, said Derrek White, chief of the Denbo Vesta Six Volunteer Fire Co.
“His dog saved his life,” White said Friday morning while he waited for a state police fire marshal to arrive and investigate the cause of the fire at 91 Vesta St.
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
The remains of a house at 91 Vesta St. in Centerville’s Denbo neighborhood were still smoldering Friday morning. The house was gutted by a fast-moving blaze that started late Thursday.
He said he believed the fire started in the front living room before firefighters were summoned to the blaze about 12:55 a.m.
“When we got here it was fully engulfed,” White said.
Fighting the fire was complicated by low pressure at fire hydrants, he said.
“We were pumping faster than the output.”
White said he needed to call for tanker trucks from neighboring fire departments to help deal with the water shortage.
Assisting at the scene were firefighters from California, Marianna, Richeyville, West Brownsville, Fredericktown and Ellsworth.