Fire causes significant damage to Youngstown North Side home, garage destroyed

YOUNGSTOWN — A fire destroyed a garage and caused significant damage to a house on the city’s North Side.

Five firefighters received minor injuries at the scene of today’s blaze, 753 Fairmont Ave., fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr. said.

Two firefighters slipped on ice, one was hit with debris when the ceiling fell, and two were hit with a heavy water stream on the top floor of the two-story house from a firehose, O’Neill said.

“It’s kind of rare for even one firefighter to be hit with water stream,” he said.

There was likely a minor miscommunication between firefighters inside and outside the structure that led to the two to be hit by water, O’Neill said.

When firefighters arrived shortly after 5 a.m. today, Ninetta Jones, who lives at the house, was already outside.

The fire started in a garage where a car was parked — the vehicle has not been used for the past two years — and spread to the unattached house, O’Neill said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.