Fire in Canfield apartment forces 42 tenants from home

By Sean Barron

Several families were placed temporarily in a local motel.

CANFIELD — Fire investigators will be on the scene today to determine the cause of a blaze that broke out at The Villager apartment complex.

Forty-two tenants of the building at 440 Fairground Blvd. were evacuated when the blaze started in a second-floor rear unit shortly before 1 p.m. Monday, sending two people to the hospital and causing extensive smoke damage, fire officials said.

The two were treated for minor smoke inhalation at St. Elizabeth Health Center’s Boardman Campus and released.

The blaze was thought to have started in a stove when one of the tenants was cooking, noted Joe Clark, the building manager. The fire was contained in the tenant’s apartment, which was heavily damaged, but other units sustained smoke and water damage, he said .

Soot was visible on the north side of the 56-unit structure.

No damage estimate was available at press time.

One of those evacuated was Lisa Dean, who said she smelled smoke and escaped by breaking out the screen in a bedroom window.

Dean’s 76-year-old mother and 2-year-old niece were staying with her, and all three got out uninjured, she said.

“I opened the door and saw heavy, black smoke,” Dean said, adding that she was unable to find her cat.

Dean said she was unsure if her property sustained damage, adding that she will be staying with a friend until allowed to return. The smoke detector in her apartment failed to sound, Dean added.

Members of the Mahoning County Chapter of the American Red Cross also were at the scene determining who needed temporary assistance. The agency was on hand to help people who need short-term housing as well as food and clothing, explained George Brainard, a volunteer.

The Red Cross placed four families who had no place to go in a motel, Clark said.

Capt. Bill Jones of the Cardinal Joint Fire District, who was the first on the scene, couldn’t be reached late Monday. Austintown, Ellsworth, Green and Beaver township fire departments helped with evacuation and firefighting.