ATLANTA - Fire damaged an Atlanta family's home, killed at least two dogs and delayed firefighters on their way to a wake for a fellow firefighter Monday afternoon. Nobody was injured in the fire that began about 1:30 p.m. at 504 N.E. Third St. in Atlanta, said Atlanta Fire Chief Ric Cheek. But the flames and heat badly damaged most of the home.
Mary Ann Kindred, who lives within a few blocks of the home, said Michael and Charlotte Horath had lived in the home since the late 1960s. She sat in a minivan with Charlotte Horath and at least two of the dogs following the fire.
Read The Pantagraph Funeral Story
Another family friend said the couple's son also lived in the home.
The cause or origin of the fire was not known Tuesday afternoon, Cheek said.
Kindred said three of the couple's dogs were safe, two were dead and two were missing following the fire.
Atlanta firefighters were going to Quiram Funeral Home, Atlanta, to pay respects to their "fallen brother," Roger Armstrong, when the fire call came in, Cheek said.
The 42-year-old volunteer Atlanta firefighter died at BroMenn Regional Medical Center following a fire late Friday. The McLean County coroner's office said he likely died because of a blocked coronary artery.
To allow Cheek and other Atlanta firefighters to go to the wake, Lincoln Fire Chief Jim Davis said he took command and his and rural Lincoln firefighters searched for hot spots after the flames were out and picked up Atlanta's fire hoses and ladders.
Chicago Fire Commander Edward Fitzgerald and Chicago Battalion Chief Michael Gubricky had driven to Atlanta to pay respects to the fellow firefighter, but pulled up in front of Atlanta's firehouse just before the fire call came in.
Fitzgerald said he and Gubricky saw volunteer firefighters quickly pulling in, and they followed the firefighters in their Chicago Fire Department car after hearing the call was for a fully involved house fire.
"Our arms aren't broke," Gubricky said he told men at the scene. "We can help."
Gubricky relayed commands to a firefighter, surveyed the scene around the house and relayed conditions to Cheek. Fitzgerald grabbed a shovel and knocked out windows in the back of the house.
After an Atlanta firefighter pulled one of the small dogs from the house, Fitzgerald felt for a pulse and began chest compressions to try to make it breathe as he carried it in his arms toward an ambulance.
Fitzgerald said he jumped into a truck with a woman and took the dog to a veterinarian. The veterinarian immediately began surgery, and it appeared the dog would survive, he said.
Gubricky said he is "on duty always."
"When you want to take a day off, you still have to work," Gubricky said.
Gubricky and Fitzgerald did not know Armstrong, but Gubricky said Chicago Fire Department officials take similar trips when firefighters die in the line of duty within 250 miles of the city. Fitzgerald said the men decided to come to Atlanta after finding out about Armstrong's death on www.firehouse.
