Cause sought in deadly Parkcliffe fire

By JOE GORMAN

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Aaron Baldwin says you do not answer a knock on the door in the middle of the night in his neighborhood.

But he made an exception late Sunday.

The mother of five children across the street was pounding on his door, asking for help because her house was on fire with the children inside.

“I opened the door and it looked like I was staring at the sun,” he said.

The children – ages 9, 3, 2 and 1-year-old twins – died in the blaze that broke out about 11:25 p.m. in their 434 Parkcliffe Ave. home. The mother, America “Amy” Negron Acevedo, 26, was taken to the burn unit at Akron Childrens Hospital. Monday night she was in MetroHealth hospital, Cleveland, in critical condition.

Baldwin said he and his girlfriend, Shaquala Thomas, called 911, but he felt helpless as heavy flames spit out of the downstairs windows.

“She was asking everybody for help,” Baldwin said of the mother. “There was nothing me with regular human skin could do.”

There were drops of Negron Acevedo’s blood on his porch as he spoke.

The Mahoning County Coroner’s office identified the victims as Aleysha Rosario, 9; Charles Gunn, 3; Ly’Asia Gunn, 2; and twins Brianna Negron and Arianna Negron, both 1.

The loss of life is the largest in a fire in the city since a Jan. 23, 2008, arson at 1645 Stewart Ave. on the East Side that killed two adults and four children. Five people were able to escape that blaze. That fire was intentionally set with an accelerant poured on the front porch. The motive for that fire was a dispute over a cell phone.

Fire Investigator Capt. Kurt Wright said Sunday’s fire appears accidental, but he did not want to say what the exact cause is until tests are performed on samples of the home collected by the state Fire Marshal’s office.

The fire started on the first floor, Wright said. Two of the victims died at the scene and three others died in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Two firefighters were treated for burns, Wright said, one at the scene and one at St. Elizabeth, before being released. The home had working smoke detectors which were going off when firefighters arrived, Wright said.

The first truck was at the home two minutes after the initial 911 call, he said.

HEARD A BOOM

Another couple across the street from the home, Deborah Rivera and Justin Viera, also called 911. Rivera said the fire woke her up.

“I just heard a boom,” Rivera said.

Viera said the mother was in a field next to the home with hardly any clothes on.

“It was very traumatic,” Viera said.

A woman two houses down, the landlord’s daughter, called 911 and said the house was on fire and Negron Acevedo told her there were children in the house.

“How many children?” the caller can be heard asking before she says to the call taker five children were inside. When told the fire department was on the way, the caller said Negron Acevedo told her: “Save my babies.”

Later, a supervisor for the police department who also responded can be heard telling dispatchers to send ambulances quickly.

“Give me any ambulance you have available,” said the supervisor. “I want a total of six [ambulances] here. We had a fireman injured. Get ‘em here.”

A GREAT MOTHER

A friend of the mother, Tonika Brooks, came by to see the scene Monday. She said she worked with the mother, and that she was a good worker and great mother.

“I was just over here yesterday [Sunday],” Brooks said.

Duane Acevedo, the children’s uncle, said he thanks everyone who has already reached out to support the family.

“It’s just a heartbreaking experience for us all,” he said.

Cece Torres, the children’s cousin, said she loved the kids like they were her own.

“Aleysha was always hardworking. Charles was a little helper, he acted older than his age,” she said. “Ly’Asia was shy but bright, an amazing girl. And the twins were beautiful, they were just learning to walk.”

Virgen Bonilla is a close of the friend of the mother who babysat the three older children. She said Negron Acevedo is a hard worker and was studying to be a nurse.

“Those kids were always with me,” Bonilla said. The 3-year-old, she said, “always attached to me. He was so lovely.”

Bonilla’s sister, Johanny Vazquez, said the victim’s entire family is in shock.

“They’re really, really hurt. They can’t believe it,” she said.

Crews that fought Sunday’s fire will be met when they return to duty by their battalion chief, who will assess the department’s response and will also offer them counseling, Wright said.

Wright said the turn that fought Sunday’s fire also dealt with two fires earlier in the evening at vacant homes on the East Side and also had to rescue a person who fell down a 100-foot ravine.

HELP WITH COSTS

Efforts are also underway to help the family deal with expenses. The Rev. Lewis Macklin, a police department chaplain, and Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th, met with other neighborhood leaders Monday to brainstorm ways to raise funds.

Davis, whose ward includes Parkcliffe, went to the fire scene after hearing the news about it. She said it was a tragedy that five young children died.

“I hope the young lady [the mother] has family around her that will embrace her and hold her and love her and give her the support she needs,” Davis said.

The 1,300-square-foot house in the Newport neighborhood of the South Side was a two-story dwelling with three bedrooms. The single-family house was built in 1924 and was last sold for $10,000 in September 2013, according to zillow.com.

The owners of the house are Maggie and Henry Lindsey of Campbell, according to the Mahoning County auditor’s website. The house’s value was $7,930, according to the website.

The Rev. Dave Kamphuis, pastor of the nearby Martin Luther Lutheran Church, said he saw the flames Sunday evening and smelled the smoke and prayed that no one would be injured.

Standing on the sidewalk Monday morning watching fire investigators examine the home, the Rev. Mr. Kamphuis said the fire was devastating.

“Sometimes you have to acknowledge there are things that go on in the world that are not God’s will,” he said. “This is one of them.”

Aleysha Rosario was a student at Wilson Elementary.

Youngstown City Schools spokeswoman Denise Dick said counselors will be available to students for as long as they are needed.

“Our sympathies go out to the family during this sad time,” she said. “We’re keeping the family in our thoughts and prayers.”