News
Published
Jan. 24, 2024, 8:10 p.m. ET
An elderly widower died Saturday in a Michigan home fireplace attempting to save lots of his trapped pooch — who was “his world” — after initially fleeing the lethal flames moments earlier.
John Balkevitch, 81, and his canine each perished contained in the burning home round 11 a.m. after neighbors making an attempt their very own heroic rescue couldn’t get previous the fierce flames, witnesses mentioned.
A thunderous explosion shook the Roseville neighborhood and flames shortly engulfed the home.
“I just heard some screaming coming down from my street,” neighbor Jeremy Skobler told WXYZ.
Skobler advised the station that Balkevitch initially obtained out of the home safely, however couldn’t depart behind his 5-year-old rescue canine, Lexie.
“He went in for his dog,” the hearth sufferer’s daughter, Stacie Krause, advised WXYZ. “That dog was his world. He loved her so much.”
“We’re a wreck. It’s one of those things you prepare for, your parents passing one day,” she additionally mentioned.
“But you don’t prepare for them passing like this.”
The man’s spouse, Marylyn, reportedly died in 2020 of a coronary heart attack as she suffered from mind most cancers.
While mementos like household pictures and a memorial plaque for Marylyn survived the blaze, the household hopes her ashes are recovered from the wreckage.
“We’re hoping (firefighters) find them when they go through the rubble,” Krause advised the station.
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