Community comes together to support firefighter after losing his home in fire

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MUNHALL — Channel 11 was there as James “Moe” Mosser walked through his Munhall home, not even 24 hours after it caught on fire.

“I was scared, and I don’t know what to do from here on,” Mosser said.

Mosser is actually a Homestead volunteer firefighter who got the call that his own home was on fire when he was out to lunch Wednesday.

“I received a dispatch for a structure fire, and I saw my address come up,” he said.

He told Channel 11 his first thought was to get home to his dog. When he got to his house, firefighters were already there. Then Mosser went inside.

“We grabbed the garden hose, and we were able to get into the kitchen just far enough to get my puppy out. It was a great feeling as soon as I saw his head poke through that smoke,” Mosser said.

It turns out his dog jumped onto the stove and turned it on.

“The pads of his feet are completely burned off, and he does have a couple burns on his legs. The vet told me there’s no major burns on the rest of his torso or head, and he also suffered smoke inhalation,” Mosser added.

His dog is recovering at the vet, and will be OK. But, when the dog is released, he and Mosser don’t have a place to call home.

Mosser’s fellow firefighters are trying to gather donations and figure out ways to help them.

“Moe knows we’ll do anything that he needs. He’s genuinely a really good guy, and everyone loves him,” Homestead fire Capt. Steve Schwab said.

For Mosser, it’s difficult being on this side of the devastation.

“When I get called to a fire, we go in, put the fire out, and we leave. There’s not much after thought on our part. Unfortunately I’m on the other side of this today.”

If you’d like to help Moe, here is the GoFundMe that his fellow firefighters set up for him.

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