Olympian Mark Coleman hospitalized from house fire
FREMONT ― UFC Hall of Famer and former Ohio State wrestler Mark Coleman was hospitalized after an Ohio house fire Tuesday morning, close family and friends confirmed on social media.
Local fire officials said Coleman was transported to Toledo Promedica after suffering from smoke inhalation. The family dog died in the fire.
According to an Instagram post by his daughter, Morgan, Coleman was airlifted to the hospital in Toledo after he attempted to save the family's dog. Coleman had already carried both of his parents out of their Fremont home.
Coleman's exact condition is unknown, though photos of him intubated in the hospital were shared on social media by friends. WTOL 11 and the News-Messenger reported details of the fire but did not identify the airlifted person as Coleman.
"As many know, our dad was involved in a house fire early this morning along with his parents and beloved dog, Hammer," Morgan Coleman wrote. "He managed to carry both of his parents out of the house but despite his best efforts was not able to save (our dog) Hammer. He was life-flighted to the hospital where he is currently battling for his life after this heroic act.
"Our father has always been our hero and means the world to us. He is and always will be a fighter. The strongest (and) bravest man I know. Please continue to pray for him and our family during this extremely difficult time. We will miss our sweet Hammer so deeply.
"Thank you for all the love and support. Hammer house for life."
Coleman, 59, was the inaugural UFC heavyweight champion and a former PRIDE grand prix winner. Nicknamed "The Father of Ground-and-Pound," Coleman was inducted into both the pioneer and fight wings of the UFC Hall of Fame.
Prior to that, Coleman was a wrestler at Ohio State, where in 1988 he won an NCAA championship.
In recent years, Coleman has dealt with multiple adversities in the public eye, including a 2020 heart attack. At the advice of Sims, Coleman went to rehab for alcoholism in 2021 and has since used his experience to promote healthy living and sobriety in social media posts.
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Fire Chief Bill Lagrou, Ballville Volunteer Fire Department provided details of the fire, for which an excavator was called in to help.
The single-family home at 2793 S. River Road, in Ballville Township, is a complete loss, according to Lagrou.
“The house is done. The house is gone,” Lagrou said. “We got called at 4 a.m. this morning. There were six other departments there with us. Three were just for the tankers, and the other three for manpower and tankers.”
Assisting in mutual aid were fire departments from Fremont, Sandusky Township, Helena, Green Springs, Bettsville and Old Fort.
“She was cooking this morning. That’s for sure,” Lagrou said. “We were there for eight hours. We got back from the service run at noon. The other departments were released as we could see releasing them. … A couple of them stayed with us until the end.”
One of the firefighters from Helena assisted with his excavator.
“We brought him in to assist, because there was fire in the floor, because there was fire underneath there. We don’t want anybody in the basement. We used him to pull the floor and throw it outside, then part of the roof too. We don’t want that to collapse on anybody,” Lagrou said. “So, an excavator, yes, we did have a weird one.”
This article was updated with additional content from Kyle Brown, USA Today, after the release of Coleman’s name.
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Fremont OH house a total loss after 8-hour firefight by 7 companies
