Man dies in house fire

Officers heroically pull man from burning home trying to save his life

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

BEAVER TOWNSHIP, Newaygo County — A 69-year-old disabled man died in a house fire early Sunday morning, Dec. 8, in the 9400 block of 7 Mile Road, said Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast.

Sgt. Cam Hanson and Deputy Gavin Porter of the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office pulled the man from the burning house and tried to save his life, said Sheriff Mast. With Hanson on patrol in Hesperia and Porter in Walkerville, the two police officers were able to quickly respond to the scene that is located just across the Oceana County line. The call was dispatched at 4:22 a.m.

“My deputies responded to the scene and found it fully engulfed, and the woman of the house yelling that her husband had not exited. The deputies made heroic efforts, going in through the heat, flames and smoke and pulled him out, but he succumbed to his injuries. They tried their damnedest.”

The two officers administered CPR after pulling the man from the house. “They broke a slider door out and dragged him out to the yard.

“I fully know the Newaygo County deputies would do the same for us,” said Sheriff Mast of the neighboring agency. 

“They put themselves in harm’s way,” Mast said of his officers. “Fortunately, they were able to escape without injuries.

“I have a whole team of them here,” he said. “It’s a measure of the type of men and women working here at the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.”

The man’s 69-year-old wife was not injured, according to the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office. The fire remains under investigation.

The following agencies assisted in the investigation: Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office, Oceana County Sheriff’s Office, Hesperia Area Fire Department, Fremont Fire Department, Lilley Township Fire Department, Walkerville Fire Department, Lake Township Fire Department, Newaygo County Central Dispatch, Mid-Michigan Medical Examiner’s Group, Michigan State Police – Fire Marshal and the Newaygo County Road Commission.

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