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West Side block decimated by arsons
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The endless chirping in the 1600 block of Hartzell Avenue is not from birds returning to the lower West Side for the spring.
Instead, it’s the smoke alarm with dead batteries in the burned-out house next door to Mike Woloshak.
This twist of fate is not lost on Woloshak, who lives on a block where more than half a dozen arsons have taken place in the last 18 months, the last one on March 2.
“It’s ironic,” Woloshak said.
Woloshak lives at ground zero of what is left of the 1600 block. He has two burned homes next to him and two across the street that also suffered fire damage that have yet to be demolished. More empty or damaged and abandoned homes line the block than occupied ones, not counting the 12 vacant lots that were once filled with homes.
Capt. Kurt Wright, head of the fire department’s Fire Investigation Unit, said the Blue Ribbon Arson Committee is offering a reward for the latest arsons. Wright said he is concerned because the last arson took place at an occupied home, whereas the previous fires were in homes that were vacant.
In that case, Wright said someone threw an accelerant through the window of a 1638 Hartzell Ave. home about 10 p.m. March 2. No one was injured in that fire, which caused about $15,000 in damage. No one is living in the home now.
Since 2010, fire department records show 14 fire calls for 11 different homes in the 1600 block including several in 2015, the most recent of those Nov. 29, 2015, at 1642 Hartzell Ave. and Dec. 27. at 1645 Hartzell Ave. Reports show someone was living at the home where the Nov. 29 fire was set. Reports said the occupant told firefighters he smelled a strong odor of gas before the fire was set and he had to run out the back door. He was not injured.
Also in 2015, fires were reported at homes at 1625 Hartzell Ave. April 5 and 1645 Hartzell Ave. Jan. 13.
Records show five homes have been demolished because of fire dating back to 2011, and two others before 2011.
Wright said each fire has been set differently.
Fred and Caren Craft live down the street from Woloshak. They said living in the neighborhood is very stressful.
“You wake up every morning, and you smell burnt wood,” Fred Craft said. He said he woke up one Easter morning to find the house across the street engulfed in flames. It has since been torn down.
“It is just so frightful,” added Caren Craft, who said they have lived on the street for nine years. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, said besides Wright, he also has spoken to the Community Police Unit officer for the neighborhood in an attempt to find the people who are responsible for the arsons. Ray said he would like to start a block-watch group, but past efforts have fizzled because of a lack of interest in that area.
He said people who live in the neighborhood have expressed concerns about the fires.
Barbara Wylam has lived on the street for 10 years, and she agrees with the Crafts that the street has been steadily deteriorating. She said a sure sign of a fire is when a house becomes vacant.
“Now if it’s empty, it’s going to be gone in a little bit,” Wylam said.
Woloshak said he has lived on the street for 53 of his 54 years. He knows everyone who used to live there and said the homes used to be filled with workers from the steel mills in town. He said as the workers got old and died or moved away, their homes would be abandoned or family members would take them over until they could be sold.
Woloshak said he is not afraid to live on the street.
“It’s reality.” Woloshak said. “It’s what a lot of cities are going through.”
Caren Craft said she does not want to leave now; she wants to keep her property for her children and grandchildren when they get older.
“I love my home,” she said. “It’s beautiful and quiet here, except for the last couple of years.”
Woloshak said every fire and subsequent demolition takes a little bit away from the neighborhood.
“Each time a houses catches on fire, it gets a little more quieter,” Woloshak said.