A June fire caused the roof on the third floor of the Heritage House condominiums to collapse on the northern wing and part of the main wing. Two people died in the blaze. (Photo by Kevin Kelley)

Police praised for putting own safety on back burner
By Jennifer Mitchell
Rocky River
Published Oct. 18, 2006

An accidental Pease Road condominium fire in June took the lives of two third-floor residents in the 79-unit Heritage House building. But if not for the heroic efforts of three city police officers, it would have taken at least two more, said condo dweller Donald Noss, who also had a residence on the third floor.

Noss sent a letter to Patrolmen Ken Thompson, David Kenney and Craig Witalis, thanking them for risking their lives to save his own, his wife’s and his neighbors’.

Mayor Pamela Bobst read the letter at the Oct. 9 City Council meeting. Kenney and his girlfriend, Jennifer Handlovics, were in attendance.

The three police officers were first responders to the fire, one arriving just a minute after the 9-1-1 call came in June 6.

Though smoke and flames were rolling from the building, the police officers knocked on doors, brought a resident out in a wheelchair and got a ladder up to the third floor to help residents climb from their windows.

“We had no way out and were located not far from the point of origin of the fire,” Noss’ letter read. “When we looked out our living room window to our left, we saw huge flames coming out of the roof spreading east.”

Hearing the couple’s screams for help, the police officers got the ladder to their window in time to get the pair down.

“Thanks for getting that ladder up to us before we had to jump,” Noss wrote. “If these Rocky River police were not there, I would not be writing this now.”

The efforts of the patrolmen landed Thompson and Kenney in the hospital, where they were treated for smoke inhalation.

Police Chief Donald Wagner called the trio’s efforts an example of “outstanding police work.” He also nominated them this summer for American Red Cross hero awards.

“These clearly were acts that imperiled their welfare and their safety and they did it without thought,” Wagner said. “I’m very proud to have them as members of the Rocky River Police Department and I know that they will continue such outstanding service to the community.”

City Council felt the same. After Bobst gave an emotional reading of Noss’ letter, council members gave Kenney, who was also representing Thompson and Witalis, a standing ovation. There was also praise and cheers for the city’s firefighters, as well as their mutual aid partners from across the Westshore, who battled and ultimately doused the blaze that destroyed the third floor of the complex.

Kenney, in turn, thanked City Council and Rocky River residents, saying that serving the city was a pleasure. It’s a job, he said, that he hopes to continue to do for years.