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Man Killed While Trying To Rescue Pets From Butler Co. Fire

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A 22-year-old man is dead and a Butler County community is in shock after a devastating fire overnight.

It took firefighters 90 seconds to get on scene, but it was too late.

Fire officials say the young man died trying to save his pets.

Flames broke out after midnight in the 300-block of First Street in Butler.

"It's one of the most horrific things I've ever had to witness and be so close to," Matthias Johnson, a neighbor who called 911, said.

The fire was intense, engulfing the home.

Butler Fire Chief George Ban says the heaviest damage was in the kitchen at the back of the house, indicating the fire may have started there.

Chief Man says the victim, whom neighbors identify as P.J. Jarvis, was on a mission to rescue the family's pets. A dog and two guinea pigs were saved, but when Jarvis went back inside to save the family cat he never returned.

The fire chief says the young man's body was found next to a cat in a second-story bedroom.

Johnson said Jarvis lived at the home with his father who was at work when the blaze broke out and little sister who wasn't home at the time either.

The Fire Marshal is investigating.

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