Man In Wheelchair Escapes House Fire But Dogs Trapped Inside As Building Goes Up In Smoke
This footage shows a man in a wheelchair escaping a house fire, but his three dogs were left trapped inside the building, with at least one of them dying in the tragedy.
The incident took place in the city of Auburn, which is located in Nemaha County, in the Midwestern US state of Nebraska, on the morning of Sunday, 20th February.
Newsflash spoke to the disabled man’s niece Rebecca Coulter in an exclusive interview, and she said that the dog, called Lyanna, “may have drowned”, possibly as a result of the basement filling up with water as firefighters attempted to put out the blaze.
The footage shows wheelchair-bound Jerry Snider on the porch of the home as smoke can be seen filling the air around him.
He can be seen speaking with his son-in-law Eric Yost, 41, over the Ring doorbell, which is a security-oriented doorbell fitted with a camera and able to make telephone calls and video calls.
The doorbell reportedly notified Snider’s daughter Shawnee, 31, about the fire. Her husband Eric then talked to Jerry through the Ring camera.
The couple was reportedly out of town visiting Mount Rushmore with their two children. Jerry, 60, a retired plumber, had been living with the couple and their two children Jerry Yost and Alyssa Yost, 13 and 9, while awaiting disability benefits after having his leg amputated.
At one point in the footage, Jerry leaves his chair and appears ready to crawl away from the house. But then police vehicles can be seen pulling up to the property, and he is assisted by two police officers, who help him back into his chair and try to call for the dogs to come out of the house.
But it is in vain, and they have no option but to retreat from the property as the footage ends. Just after the footage ended, the porch to which the doorbell was attached reportedly collapsed.
Of the three dogs trapped in the blaze, one was “miraculously” found alive in the basement, but another one, also in the basement, was dead.
The third dog was still missing at the time of writing. The family has asked for prayers in the hope that it may still be found alive.
It is currently unclear what started the fire, and it is being investigated.
Rebecca, a housekeeper and nanny who said that she is Jerry Snider’s niece, told Newsflash: “Two of the dogs ran back inside and one was found in the basement 12 hours after the fire alive. She is doing okay, a few burns and some antibiotics being given for infection.
“Their beloved Lyanna passed in the basement we believe she may have drowned.”
Eric has vowed to rebuild the house, left a smouldering wreck, on the same piece of land.
A crowdfunding campaign has been launched on GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-the-yost-snider-family-home).
At the time of writing, it had raised nearly USD 2,000 out of a USD-100,000 goal.
Rebecca said that her cousin, who lived at the property with Eric and his wife, was put up by the Red Cross in a hotel for a few nights, but they now have to stay in a motel, the Arbor Manor, also in Auburn, and pay a nightly rate.
She added: “Any other help is what you see on GoFundMe.
“There have been multiple offers for, you know, house stuff, which is wonderful, and I know that hearts are in the right place, but it’s a little hard to accept much of that, as they haven’t anywhere to take it. Like furniture or tons of clothing offered from friends or neighbours in the community.”
It was not revealed why Jerry’s leg had to be amputated.