Family and neighbors say 81-year-old John Balkevitch of Roseville escaped his burning home Saturday morning before returning to attempt to save his rescue dog, Lexie. Both died in the fire.
The Roseville Fire Department says on Saturday around 10:55 a.m., the department first received calls of a fire near Common Road and Utica Road.
Neighbors say they heard a loud explosion before seeing the flames come from Balkevitch’s home.
Jeremy Skobler“I just heard some screaming coming down from my street,” neighbor Jeremy Skobler said.
Skobler and other neighbors jumped into action, trying to save the 81-year-old man, but the flames were too fierce.
“We ran down to the house just to see if we could get him out ourselves before the firefighters got there,” Skobler said. “I couldn’t even get into the house, it was so smoke-filled.”
According to Skobler, family and other neighbors, Balkevitch had initially escaped, but ran back into the home to save his 5-year-old rescue dog, Lexie.