ELYRIA — Mike Panter cradled his mother’s dog, Harley, as he looked at his childhood home.

“Fifty Thanksgivings in that house,” he said sadly. “And now … I don’t know if we’ll ever have another one.”

The home at 114 Highland Court, where his mother, a sister and one of his brothers still lived, suffered serious damage in a Thursday night fire. Four cats perished in the blaze, which remained under investigation, according to the Elyria Fire Department.

Harley and three cats were rescued from the home.

Fire officials could not yet pinpoint how, when or where the fire started, but said flames were visible from the front of the first floor when they arrived. The heat was so intense that paint on the walls on the second floor was reportedly peeling. The living room, which was visible from the street, was completely destroyed. The remains of a sofa lay in the front yard.

“All mom’s pictures of our family, our grandparents, our great-grandparents, that were hanging on the wall downstairs, they’re probably gone,” Mike said.

No one was home when the fire began. The homeowner, 73-year-old Yolanda Panter, was in St. Louis with her daughter, Mary, who also lived in the house, to attend the graduation of her grandson, Shane Panter, of Elyria, from National Guard training.

Mike Panter said he drove by the house between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. on his way home from work, and everything looked fine.

Eric Panter, who lived with his mother at the home, said he had spent the evening with his brother Joe at his Elyria home. He returned home just before 9 p.m. to walk Harley.

“I came up the front steps wondering why the porch light was off when I’d turned it on when I left,” Eric Panter said. “I opened the front door and … woosh! It was like in that movie ‘Backdraft.’ The fire knocked me back a few steps.”

The family quickly gathered at the home, cradling pets as they were brought out, hoping that the rest were safe. One rescued cat was given oxygen and appeared to be all right.

Mike Panter said he would probably bring Harley to his home after this second rescue — his mother and sister had found Harley in a park. The dog had been beaten, he said, had a broken jaw and had lost almost all his lower teeth when his mother and sister found him.

“He’s a special dog,” Mike Panter said. “To survive what happened before he came to us and now this … He’s the best dog.”

Family members can now only wait for answers as to how the fire started.

“(Fire Department officials) asked us if anyone was smoking in the house,” Joe Panter said. Eric Panter, a smoker, confined his smoking to the basement, he said. And with Eric Panter being out of the house for three hours, Joe said he couldn’t see how one of his brother’s cigarettes started the fire.

As they watched firefighters sift through the ruins of the living room, the Panter brothers reflected on the memories of the home where they grew up. Yolanda Panter, Joe said, was a foster mother for several years.

“My grandparents bought this house for my parents 50 years ago,” Mike Panter said. “It was where she raised her kids, where her grandkids went. So many memories.”

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

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