FirstEnergy linemen help rescue resident, dogs from house fire

PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) – Three alert FirstEnergy linemen are being celebrated as heroes after helping save a man and his two dogs from a house fire Thursday morning.

“I opened up the door and I see nothing but flames and smoke,” Rick Price said.

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Price was asleep when he heard a door slam at about 10 a.m. — presumably, his dogs trying to wake him, as their house was on fire.

A nearby FirstEnergy crew was working to restore power when they noticed smoke coming from the home. Rob Cecil, Sean Groom and Brian Green sprung into action immediately.

“They heard the resident inside yelling for help,” Parma Heights Fire Chief Matt Bernard said. “One of them immediately started to call 911 while the other two — I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to those three linemen — the other two pulled the resident out the back window, sat him down just as we were arriving on scene.”

One of the family dogs named Bella, a 4-year old mastiff, was able to get out, but 4-year-old Tank, a Rottweiler, was still trapped inside. Parma Heights Fire located Tank in the living room and pulled the dog from the fire.

“When they brought him out, he was limp,” Price said. “I thought it was over for him. They brough him out and put oxygen on him, and a bunch of water, they were all rubbing him. And they got him going. Then they took him to the hospital.”

“No burns, just a little bit of smoke inhalation,” Bernard said. “But as I said, once they started giving the dog oxygen and some water, he started to kind of come around and, you know, 15 minutes later, he was walking around.”

Both Price and Tank are recovering from suffering smoke inhalation. Price went back to the hospital on Friday. Their home is badly damaged from the blaze, but the home is not a total loss, thanks to several bedroom doors being closed at the time of the fire.

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FirstEnergy Ohio President Torrence Hinton is very proud of his linemen for being aware and ready to step in.

“It’s a prime example of our employees, not only out here doing the great work to restore service, but also thinking about the members of our community — willing to save a life,” Hinton said.

Price is eternally grateful for the linemen and firefighters.

“If it wasn’t for them guys, I wouldn’t be here, or my dogs,” he said.

Parma Heights Mayor Marie Gallo thanked the three linemen for going above and beyond the call of duty, giving us a heartwarming story amid all of this madness caused by severe weather.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the Prices recover from the fire.

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