Firefighters work up sweat battling blazes
Cindy Leise | The Chronicle-Telegram
In the space of a few hours Friday night and Saturday morning, firefighters raced from one burning structure to another in Lorain, Amherst Township and Elyria Township.
Teamwork — and cooperation among fire departments in Lorain, Elyria, Amherst, Sheffield, Elyria Township, Sheffield Township and Carlisle Township left fire officials proud of a job well done.
Four fires — two of which occurred in vacant homes — were extinguished, and the fires did not spread.
In Lorain, fire caused an estimated $100,000 damage to Freddy’s Tire and Auto Repair near East 28th Street and Denver Avenue, according to Assistant Fire Chief Gary Burls. The fire broke out in upstairs apartments, he said. The building is a total loss, although firefighters saved cars and tires in the shop on the first floor, he said.
Firefighters ventured inside after the fire was reported at 7:48 p.m. to make sure no one was trapped in the upstairs apartments, Burls said.
“Our crews did a search and were quickly forced out because of the extreme heat,” Burls said.
A second fire was reported in Lorain while crews from several fire departments were fighting the first.
That fire was reported at 10:09 p.m. in a vacant home at 1011 E. 33rd St., and there was about $10,000 in damage to a bedroom.
Burls said the utilities were red-tagged and shut off, so he suspects an intruder got into the house near Dallas Avenue and started the fire.
A few minutes later, at 10:20 p.m., a fire was reported by occupants of 232 Rustic Hill Lane in the Hidden Valley subdivision in Amherst Township.
The fire was largely confined to a bedroom, and no damage estimate was immediately available, said Amherst Fire Chief Wayne Northeim.
While firefighters were dealing with those three fires, a fourth fire was reported at 11:30 p.m. at 7263 Lake Ave. near Rambler Avenue in Elyria Township, said Assistant Elyria Township Fire Chief Russ Scarbrough.
Scarbrough said the utilities were still on in the home, owned by Del Lumber, which went out of business recently. Damage to the home was estimated at $25,000.
Investigators are seeking the cause of all four fires.
Fire officials said they are glad no one was hurt and they saved what property they could from the flames.
The toughest fire was the fire at Freddy’s Tire and Auto Repair, where crews were on the scene until late Saturday morning.
Fighting four fires at once “was unusual, but it all worked out” thanks to mutual aid, Northeim said.
“Those days when we say, ‘We’ll fight our own fire’ are over,” Northeim said.
Friday night reminded Elyria fire Capt. Joseph Pronesti of the effort that saved three residential blocks of homes when the former General Industries building in Elyria’s industrial core burned on July 3.
Some 125 firefighters battled the fire at the building, including about 65 of the 72 Elyria firefighters on staff at the time. The only ones who didn’t respond were out of town or on sick leave, he said.
There’s always been mutual aid, but it has dramatically changed, with far more cooperation between full-time and part-time or volunteer departments, Pronesti said.
“It’s really taken off in the past several years because of the lack of manpower — on-duty staff,” he said. “Firefighting was always so territorial, but in the past few years we’ve changed. We have to open up our boundaries, speak the same language and do the right thing. It was really tested Friday night.”
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Cindy Leise | The Chronicle-Telegram November 30th, 2008 in BREAKING, Top Stories. Popularity: 3% |
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Comments
Comment from
ProudFordWorker
November 30, 2008, 11:39 am
How would they have managed if there were the layoffs that Sheffield Village proposed in the Fire Department? We cannot jeopardize our communities or the people that serve to protect our communities. These guys put their lives on the line for US! They shouldn’t have to do it with the distraction of the fear of layoffs! I commend the fine job done by all the safety service workers (police, fire, emt, etc) in Lorain County! Thank you.
Comment from
Cmon
November 30, 2008, 8:41 pm
It’s always easier to just shut fire stations and reduce manpower in fire and police. Why go thru the hassle of downsizing other depts? Just go to the ones that cost the most and are the most important!
Comment from
hopetogetouttatown
December 1, 2008, 7:18 am
Mr. Hunter has forgotten his Union background!
Imagine that…
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