South Philly man saved from fire by his dog, who perished in the flames
Morty and his owner Edward Karl rode the rails, hunkered down in train yards, and slept in punk venues off and on for 10 years. Many times, Morty had saved his owner from beatings - or worse.
After saving his owner’s life by awakening him to a one-alarm fire in their South Philadelphia rowhouse early Saturday, a 12-year-old Akita-shepherd mix named Mordecai went missing.
Friends and neighbors posted flyers, alerted people on Facebook, and combed the neighborhood throughout the weekend to aid owner Edward Karl in the search for “Morty.”
At 11 a.m. Monday, a friend going through the rubble discovered Morty’s remains on top of Karl’s backpack, which was on Karl’s bed in his first-floor apartment.
Through their travels around the country, Karl had taught Morty to always guard the backpack by lying on it.
“That was his safe space,” Karl said. “He was where he thought I’d tell him to be.”
The Philadelphia Fire Department did not list a cause of the fire. Soon after the blaze, rumors swirled through the neighborhood that a drug lab in the building’s second-floor apartment was to blame.
Four hours after firefighters declared the fire under control, police entered the second-floor apartment, and said they discovered a drug lab “with narcotics in plain view.” They also found clear liquid chemicals and edibles.
The apartment tenant, Maxwell Glassiner 35, was arrested and charged with “Manufacture/Delivery/Possession With Intent and knowing and intentionally possessing a controlled substance.”
Police had no statement about the fire. Police said Glassiner has been released, pending a court date.
A music promoter and CEO of Rubbish Records, Karl, 40, aka Pretty Boy Nicodemus, is a known figure in the Philadelphia circle of punk musicians.
He’s also the founder of South Philadelphia Punks With Lunch, a nonprofit that distributes food for people who are food insecure, and does harm-reduction outreach, which includes distributing condoms, clean needles and Narcan, which can help people who are overdosing on an opioid.
Morty was a widely known mascot of sorts to the punk community in the area.
“We’re devastated by this,” said Erin Cookman, 30, aka Erin Incoherent, a punk rocker from the neighborhood who works for a harm-reduction nonprofit called Unity Harm Reduction. “The last thing Mordecai did with his life was save his best friend, who otherwise might not have woken up.
“Saturday, we’ll be hosting a vigil and we’ll use it as a stage to share memories.”
For Karl, those memories are still vivid.
A self-described “punk rock beatnik” who was “sick of society,” Karl, originally from Atlantic City, read Jack Kerouac, and followed the author’s lead, “lighting out for the territory.” He’d hop onto and ride freight trains from town to town. He worked on fishing boats and sugar beet farms, and in a Midwestern Mexican restaurant.
In Minot, N.D., just around the sugar beet harvest in 2011, an acquaintance gave Karl six-week-old Morty, the runt of a newly born litter.
The two rode the rails, hunkered down in train yards, and slept in punk venues and the homes of “punk people,” as Karl called them, off and on for 10 years.
Numerous times, Morty had saved Karl from robbery, a beating, or worse.
“He meant a real lot to me,” Karl said. “It’s good to have a dog protect you when you’re sleeping on freight trains. We spent 24 hours a day together. It got so he liked the smell of people who lived outdoors, riding trains.”
Whenever Karl would enter a store, he’d leave his backpack with all the food and belongings that he and Morty shared on the sidewalk. Karl trained Morty to lie on the pack until Karl emerged from the store.
Upon returning to Philadelphia, Karl, who said he’s “been sober for six years,” was diagnosed with PTSD from his “hobo” life.
Morty then took on another role as a comfort animal, at Karl’s side whenever he rode SEPTA.
Friends have organized a GoFundMe site for Karl as well as his roommate, Ricky Dormoi, a musician. The two said they lost most of their possessions. Much of their music equipment, which was stored in the basement, did not burn, but may have sustained water damage.
Karl and Dormoi’s friends have filled Facebook pages with gratitude that the two survived. But quite a few lamented Morty’s death.
“Morty was doing his job in that fire,” Karl said. “He lived doing jobs for me. And then he died.
“What can I say? He was a good boy.”