Tragedy leaves North Side neighbors stunned

The cause appears to be accidental, a fire lieutenant says.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Tears filled Ernest Cottle Sr.'s eyes as he downplayed his heroic effort at a fire on Bryson Street.
"I wasn't trying to be a hero, I was just trying to save her life."
Firefighters who forced open the door at 1566 Bryson around 1:30 a.m. Thursday found Willa "Cookie" Payne, 57, dead on the dining room floor. She lived alone in the two-story brick North Side home where the porch is decorated with candy canes for Christmas.
Fire Lt. Kevin Johnson said Thursday it appears the fire, confined to the first-floor dining room, was accidental. The smoke detector was inoperable. The cause remains under investigation.
Candles, cigarettes and electrical wires were found in the house. An aquarium with fish inside burst from the fire's heat, Johnson said.
Payne's slightly burned body was sent to Cleveland for an autopsy, Johnson said. The burns could have been inflicted after death, which possibly occurred from smoke inhalation, Johnson said.
"My daughter, Kandice, was on a chat line and looked out the window and saw the fire," Cottle said, leaning on a cane in his living room. "She screamed, 'Daddy, Daddy, Miss Cookie's house is on fire!'"
The Cottles live across the street from 1566 Bryson.
Rescue effort
Cottle said he grabbed a sledgehammer and tried to break open the front door of his neighbor's house. His wife, Barbara, ran to the back door but there was too much smoke.
"I was hitting the front door and the [house] windows shattered on the porch," Cottle said. "I was trying to save her -- her kids grew up with mine."
Cottle said Payne's two children are Precious, who attends Ohio State University, and J.J., a lawyer in Cleveland.
"I called J.J. He dropped the phone," Cottle said, choking up. "Two days before Christmas and I had to say, 'Your mother's dead.'"
Cottle said Payne was a longtime dear friend and helped anyone in the neighborhood who needed it.
"She was like a sister -- I can't believe it happened," he said.
He said his wife called Payne every night, just to make sure she was all right. He glanced across the street at the brick home with its front door and shattered windows now boarded up.
"It just breaks your heart. I've been here over 20 years, Cookie's been here over 30," Cottle said. "I love this neighborhood, I'll never move. Cookie wouldn't move, either."
The 46-year-old man, called "Big E" by his friends, moved toward his kitchen to show visitors a Christmas card Payne hand-delivered on Tuesday. It was signed "Cookie and Family."
Another neighbor
Next door to Cottle is Laura Wylie's house. Wylie, a school bus driver, said she didn't hear the firetrucks but learned about the death when Cottle called and woke her family up.
"It's such a shame. She was such a sweet person," Wylie said. "Her daughter in Columbus just had a baby this year."
Wylie said she was on her way to work Tuesday and cleaning snow from her car the last time she saw Payne.
"I waved, she waved," Wylie said. "She loved to sit on that porch in the summer. It's so sad. ... They tell me she tried to get out."
Wylie believes Payne recently retired after 30 years at Delphi Packard Electric. She shook her head at the idea of Payne's looking forward to enjoying retirement.
"We swapped cigarettes all the time," Wylie said, sadness in her voice. "I just dropped her Christmas card in her box the other day."
Wylie said Payne had a lot of friends on the block.
"I can't believe she's gone."