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Two die in separate fires Wednesday
By Joe Gorman
House fires killed two people in the Youngstown area Wednesday.
The cause of the first fire, at 5731 Border Ave. in Boardman, remains under investigation by the state fire marshal and Boardman police and fire officials.
An update in the case is expected today after the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office completes an autopsy on the unidentified male victim from that fire. The victim had not been positively identified as of Wednesday night.
In Youngstown, a 70-year-old man died inside his 640 W. LaClede Ave. home after a blaze broke out there about 11:20 a.m.
Firefighters called to the home arrived within two minutes and were told the man was inside, but he was already dead.
The Boardman blaze was reported just after 4 a.m. by neighbors. Police also were notified when the victim failed to show up for work that morning, they said.
The two-story wood-frame house was in flames when firefighters arrived, and responders initially were unable to enter. Upon entry, firefighters discovered the victim’s body in an upstairs bathroom of the house. The structure is at the back of a dead-end street off of Meadowbrook Avenue near Southern Boulevard.
Hours after the fire was extinguished, the house appeared to have been ravaged by the fire. Much of the upper rear portion of the home and its roof had collapsed, and extensive smoke damage was visible on the exterior.
Boardman’s last fatal fire was at the Mill Creek Village apartments on Lockwood Boulevard in January 2013. A 45-year-old woman died of smoke inhalation in that fire.
Though it’s unclear what caused Wednesday’s house fires, the U.S. Fire Administration and State Fire Marshal report that house fires occur most frequently in the winter.
At the fire in Youngstown, friends and relatives arrived piecemeal and comforted one another as firefighters waited for city police detectives and the state Fire Marshal’s Office to inspect the scene. Fire Chief John O’Neill would not say what the cause was, saying he wanted to wait until the fire marshal examined the home. He also said the coroner’s office would have to release the name of the man who died.
He also said the county coroner’s office would perform an autopsy. Coroner’s investigators and the state fire marshal dismissed detectives from the scene after they arrived, O’Neill said.
The fire was out quickly once firefighters arrived, but O’Neill said it was very intense. The fire appeared to start on the first floor in the front of the home, he said.
A man who was driving home on Glenwood Avenue, Anthony Jones, was watching firefighters move in and out of the house. Jones said he saw smoke coming from the roof, turned onto West LaClede Avenue and called 911.
Rodney Ford, who lives across the street, said he saw smoke and tried to get the victim out of the house. Ford said he ran toward the back and broke a window but could not get inside.
“There was just too much smoke and fire,” Ford said.
Ford said the man across the street had lived there for years and was a great neighbor.
“He was a real good old man,” Ford said.
Contributor: Staff writer Peter Milliken