Frederick man burned trying to save puppy

A Frederick man was burned Tuesday trying to save a puppy from a fire that destroyed his house on Buckeystown Pike.

Calvin Franklin Stone Jr., 37, tried to run inside the burning house to save Bolt, a Doberman pinscher less than a year old, Stone’s father said. He was unable to reach the puppy, and the pet died in the fire.

“When he opened the door it just blew him out and broke his leg,” said Calvin Franklin Stone of his son’s rescue efforts.

Stone was flown by helicopter to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center burn unit in Baltimore, Frederick County fire and rescue officials said. A report on Stone’s condition was not available Tuesday night.

Battalion Chief Doug Wallick said neighbors were pulling Stone away from the house at about 6 p.m. when crews arrived.

Only Bolt was inside when the fire started. The family’s other dogs, Kane and Mercedes, were outside when the fire broke out.

Stone had lived for about 12 years at the house at 4218 Buckeystown Pike with his sons and three dogs, his father said. The family rushed over to the house after receiving a call about the fire.

“He’ll live with us,” Stone’s father said.

The family watched alongside neighbors as crews extinguished the blaze.

Violet May, a next-door neighbor, said a woman knocked on her front door and told her to get out. She remembers seeing Stone’s two sons running outside right before fire crews arrived.

“I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what,” May said.

When May walked outside she said flames had already engulfed Stone’s home.

“I saw red and orange flames coming out of the top and bottom,” May said. “It was roaring.”

Thirty firefighters controlled the blaze in about 15 minutes, officials said. The two-story house was destroyed. Fire crews from the Carroll Manor Fire Co. and county rescue services responded.

Buckeystown Pike near Lime Kiln Road was temporarily closed to traffic as crews cleared the scene.

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