Hubbard neighbors fondly remember young man who died in fire

By Sarah Lehr

slehr@vindy.com

HUBBARD

Neighbors remember a young man who died in a fire Friday morning for his outgoing personality.

They say he often was outside and could be counted on to help them with car trouble and landscaping.

Josh Parkany, 24, lived in an apartment above a garage on the 1900 block of State Line Road in Hubbard Township near Pennsylvania.

The Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the matter and believes the fire began accidentally.

Crews responded just after 7 a.m. to the blaze, which decimated the garage and attached apartment.

Firefighters brought in tanker trucks with water due to the lack of hydrants in the area. Farmland borders the apartment on one side.

Sgt. Mike Begeot, Hubbard Township police detective, said the flames spread rapidly because the building was old and composed of dry timber. Begeot believes there were no smoke detectors in the dwelling.

In an early morning 911 call, a man and a woman frantically tell a dispatcher about seeing the fire. The woman says tearfully, “It’s the garage [above] my son’s apartment. He’s in there.”

The victim’s mother lives in a house next door to the apartment. She was in the house at the time of the fire but was not injured. The flames damaged the house’s exterior siding.

A boyfriend of the victim’s neighbor said he awoke Friday morning to screams. Jeff, who declined to give his last name, said he has known the victim’s family for decades. The family is prominent in the area because it used to own a dairy farm, Jeff said.

“He was always smiling,” Jeff said, as friends and neighbors gathered behind caution tape to peer at the charred building. “If this hadn’t happened, he would have been out here asking about the commotion.”

A family friend who also declined to give her name said the victim was a “people person.”

“He was a really good-looking kid,” she said. “Very handsome.”

The woman added, “It’s sad that the good Lord above would take so many young people. This shouldn’t be happening to someone as young as him.”