Wednesday, October 21, 2015
By Ed Runyan
NEWTON FALLS
Investigators are sifting through the decimated remains of the mobile home at 80 King’s Drive in Blue Water Manor, Newton Township, to determine what started the fire that killed Samuel J. LaPolla, 62, early Tuesday.
LaPolla’s body was found in a bedroom in the center of the structure in the general area where the fire began at 3:23 a.m. His dog, Cobo, was found dead of smoke inhalation near the front door. The park is off Carson Salt Springs Road west of Lordstown.
LaPolla, who used to be a truck driver, was disabled and lived alone in the trailer with Cobo, said his neighbor, Barbara Yarolim.
One reason she knew LaPolla was that she would watch Cobo when LaPolla was gone for a number of days.
“He was a very kindhearted man,” she said. “He would have done anything for anyone.”
Yarolim said she and some neighbors took care of burying Cobo’s body because LaPolla cared a great deal about Cobo and had left instructions.
“Sam always said if anything happened to him, I should take care of Cobo. So he’s buried out there,” she said nodding into the distance.
Richard Bauman, fire chief of the Newton Falls Joint Fire District, which provides fire protection in Newton Falls and Newton Township, said the trailer was a complete loss. He said he could not estimate the dollar loss.
He said the fire appears to have started in the bedroom area in the center and back of the trailer, and that’s where the worst of the fire damage occurred. The roof of part of the structure collapsed.
LaPolla’s trailer was served by natural gas for heat at one point, but the gas had been disconnected and sealed off by Dominion East Ohio Gas, Bauman said. There was an electric space heater in the house, but it’s not known whether it was running, Bauman said. There were no smoke detectors, he said.
Other fire departments that assisted were Braceville, Warren and Milton townships and Lordstown’s police and fire departments. Investigating the cause of the fire are the Trumbull County Fire Investigative Unit and Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office.