Lucky Cat Uses Up One Of Its Nine Lives Surviving Butler Co. Fire
BUTLER (KDKA) -- Three days after a fire heavily damaged a building housing an old furniture store and seven apartments in Butler County, a couple who lost everything got some good news.
The fire burned for hours last Friday in the heart of downtown Butler.
The couple's 8-month-old cat was found in their burned out apartment on Monday.
David Shoup was allowed back into his second-floor apartment with the Butler fire chief Monday to see if anything could be salvaged.
Instead, Shoup said he heard meowing from a back bedroom.
Shoup told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti, "I dug the cat out of the ceiling and dry wall. He immediately ran into a bathroom, but he finally came out and he appeared to be okay."
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Shoup's wife, Kayla Hildebrand, said she was speechless.
"I saw the door fly open, Mr. Tickles, our cat, was in David's hands," she said, "and I said, "No way, no way, not after three days, all alone and scared."
Everything else the couple managed to salvage fit into a baby stroller.
They're now temporarily staying at a motel until Butler County Catholic Charities can help them find someplace more permanent to live.
