UPDATE: Elyria fire suspicious, could be ruled arson, fire chief says
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ELYRIA — The fire that destroyed Yolanda Panter’s home at 114 Highland Court early today is suspicious and could be ruled an arson, Fire Chief Richard Benton said today.
It is the second fire at the home in four months, and Panter was not at home either time, Benton said.
The first fire in November caused significant damage and the home, which was under repair, was completely destroyed in the second fire, which was reported by neighbors and passers-by.
Listen to audio from the 911 calls:
Call 1:
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Call 2:
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Call 3:
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Calls 4 and 5:
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Today’s fire involved all four floors — the basement, first floor, second floor and attic, Benton said. He said it is suspicious because it grew so large in such a small amount of time and was not reported until it was almost fully engulfed. The fire site is prominent — just up the hill from the bushes that spell out Elyria and across the street from the county 911 building (see map below).
The department’s arson investigators have requested a crime scene dog that can sniff out gasoline and other accelerents, Benton said.
Meanwhile, Panter and several of her 10 children said they are distraught over the loss of the home she lived in for nearly 50 years.
The threat to neighbors — including George and Sakeena Rose and their seven children, was the worst part if the fire is indeed ruled an arson, Yolanda Panter said.
“It’s just a very heartless thing to do,” Panter said.
“At first when I got the call that our house was on fire I thought it was a sick joke,” said Panter’s youngest daughter, Mary, 34.
“My mom has lived in that home nearly 50 years and we were going to have her 50th Christmas and 50th New Years in that home,” she said.
About a month ago, things seemed to be going so well, Mary Panter said.
Renovations were being made to fix the home and she and her mother got to meet President Barack Obama when he dropped into Smitty’s to eat during his visit to Lorain County.
Next-door neighbor George Rose said despite the peril his family was placed in, he’s a grateful man today.
His family was able to escape their own burning home at 112 Highland Court.
Rose, a meat cutter at Fligner’s, said escaping the burning home with seven children ranging from four months to 16 years old was very frightening.
The front door was sticking when he tried to open it.
Finally he got it open but he decided not to take a chance because flames were advancing on the doorway.
“I could feel heat on the left side of my face so I ran back to the living room and kicked out the screen and started putting the kids through the window,” he said.
Elyria police Patrolman Richard Walker took the children in his arms and carried them to safety.
Rose is truly grateful because no one was injured, but he says the experience was horrible.
“They went out in their underwear,” he said.
Everyone is trying to carry on, but “the older kids are more traumatized than the younger kids,” he said.
Besides Rose and his wife, Sakeena, the blended family consists of Rose’s two step-children Sakeena Vargas, 16, and Henry Vargas, 15, as well as their children Chad, 9, Richard, 7, Sherry, 6, George III, 1, and Ruby, four months.
It was Ruby who was being born when the last fire occurred in November at the home next door.
Listen along as firefighters fought the fire:
Scanner clip 1:
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Scanner clip 2:
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Scanner clip 3:
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(Don’t forget, you could have been listening along live to the CT’s online police and fire scanner.)
Rose said repairman had just installed windows Monday in the burned home which is being repaired, and they left about 4 or 5 p.m.
The family is getting assistance from the Red Cross, but Rose has no clue about their plans for the next few weeks.
One thing is sure, however, there’s no moving back immediately into their rented home, which is burned and damaged from smoke and water.
“The dining room got the worst of it,” he said.
After the first fire at the home next door, the Rose family did not have to move out, but this is a completely different story, he said.
“I’ve never been through anything like this,” he said.
A fire was initially reported at 114 Highland Court about 1:20 a.m., according to Elyria Fire Capt. Joseph Pronesti. The fire spread to 112 Highland Court and 203 Gateway Boulevard.
Manpower and water issues were evident from the start, Pronesti said. Only 10 firefighters were on duty when the call came in, and firefighters had difficulty finding a working hydrant in the area. There was also a small mechanical problem with the Elyria Fire Department’s tower truck, but Pronesti said that was fixed within a few minutes.
114 Highland, where the fire started, is a vacant home that was the scene of another fire in November, Pronesti said.
Because there weren’t enough firefighters, Pronesti said he asked Walker to try to evacuate 112 Highland Court.
“I really have to thank him for what he did,” Pronesti said. “I told him if it was too bad, not to do it, but he really went above and beyond and risked his own life.”
Fire departments from Sheffield, Avon, Lorain and Elyria Township were called in for aid. Pronesti said fire departments from townships around the county were called in to set up a water shuttle — essentially a pool of water that can be trucked in and refilled from working hydrants — but it wound up not being needed.
Elyria police were called in to assist with traffic control issues, which were made worse due to the water problems because hoses had to be run across streets from the few working hydrants in the area.
Pronesti said the fire was under control in about an hour and a half or two hours and that firefighters remained on the scene for about three hours.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to Pronesti. He didn’t have damage estimates for the homes, but said 114 Highland was a total loss, 112 Highland is uninhabitable and 203 Gateway is damaged but still inhabitable.
Check back at Chroniclet.com for more info as it becomes available.
Stories on the previous fire at 114 Highland:
View Elyria multihome fire in a larger map
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