Eastlake couple loses dog, house to fire but thankful for community support

Oct. 5—Following an electrical fire that destroyed the home of Nick Mayer and Samantha Richter and claimed their dog, Otis, the Eastlake couple have experienced nothing but support.

"Someday, we're going to get to those thank-you cards," Richter said. "We want to extend our deepest, most sincere thanks for every single person who has come along in this journey. We don't take our support system lightly. We're very appreciative of it."

Richter coaches the junior varsity girls soccer team at North High School and recently accepted the head coach position for the track team at North. She is also an educator in the Willoughby-Eastlake City School District.

Mayer, a former basketball coach at North, is the current boys and girls tennis coach. He also does tutoring for the district and is a Wickliffe High School social studies teacher.

A Sept. 19 fire ravaged their Eastlake home. Response to the GoFundMe that has been created to help the couple begin to rebuild has been overwhelming, Richter said.

The GoFundMe has a goal of $10,000 and thus far, $9,230 via 136 donations has been received.

"When it was created, Sam and I weren't in the right head space to even think about anything else other than what just happened at that moment," Mayer said. "My sister made the GoFundMe. My students were the ones who said, 'Mr. Mayer, you're so close to getting to your goal.' I didn't even know. We're very thankful for our families who have helped out nonstop."

Richter said she was coming home on Sept. 19 to change to go to a soccer match and noticed a campfire-like smell upon entering the garage.

"I just thought that was strange," she recalled. "I couldn't hear any alarms and then I opened the door to the house, and unfortunately, Otis had passed away on the floor right by the door. I looked to my left and it was just smoke pouring through the kitchen. Fortunately, (Otis) wasn't burned and I was able to get him out of the house."

Richter said the Eastlake Fire Department stepped in right away and was able to get the fire under control. It was then that the fire was declared to be electrical, a complete fluke, she said.

"What the investigators mentioned was the fire had probably started in the wall maybe as early as the morning," Richter said. "Unfortunately, we did not have home cameras. We never thought we needed it. You never think you need it until you realize you need it. Our case with Otis, they had let us know it was carbon monoxide that caused him to pass away, so he had passed even before the fire had really broken out."

Wherever Mayer and Richter end up, they will be investing in a home monitoring system.

"I can't give any recommendations to anyone yet because we're still in that journey, but if you have pets or young people in the house, even if you think, 'This is an extra expense,' if I could go back 101 times, I would choose to spend money to have that system," Richter said.

As of now, the couple has received two estimates for rebuilding.

"It's all dependent on so many factors that we can't take into consideration yet," Richter said. "One of the things that is adding to the timeline now is our insurance adjustor. There's a massive weather tragedy, so we're not the only house on people's case loads anymore with what's going on in Florida."

Anything that was touched by the fire is now structurally unsafe, she said.

"We have two rooms that were pretty much burnt out and then the fire started going to our living room, and the other big factor in what's going to take our house a long time is it's a small house, so the whole house has smoke damage," Richter said. "We're just taking it day by day. Our phones have been ringing like crazy, but it means they're on the case and we appreciate all of their help."

Before he knew Richter, Otis, who was a pit bull American bulldog mix, was Mayer's. The loss is tough for him because Otis was like a brother and a best friend.

"He was a dog that if you just gave him a treat, you were his best friend," Mayer said. "We'd have Sam's soccer team over and do Saturday breakfast. They were all loving on him, giving him treats. We bought a pound of treats and I'm pretty sure after, it ended up being half. He'd make you smile and just be a complete goofball."

Since her mother was allergic, Richter said she did not have any pets growing up.

"Meeting Nick and knowing that Nick and Otis were a package deal, I had to say 'OK,'" Richter said. "Otis was a big dog, so going from nothing to a big dog, I was hesitant. Otis was absolutely relentless in trying to get me to open up. He would always put his head right by you on the couch and was very gentle."

Richter recalls the day that she and Otis bonded for life.

"After we were married, I told Nick I'll feed Otis breakfast," she said. "Not ever having a pet, I didn't quite know the difference between dog treats and dog food, so I poured him an entire bowl full of dog treats."

Donations for the couple can be made on gofundme.com.