|
Ashtabula News Herald
4 Die in Fire
November 4, 2000
By Diana Lewis
News-Herald Staff Writer
The firefighter walked out of the still-smoldering house, his
face a stoic mask. He held his arms as if to cradle a baby and
slowly rocked them back and forth.
The gesture was simple, its meaning obvious: The second
toddler had been found.
"This is a sad morning," said a neighbor, providing an
understated epitaph for the three children and one adult who
were killed in a fast-moving fire which engulfed the home of
Charles Sr. and Stephanie Newman Friday morning at 939 W. 43rd
St. in Ashtabula.
Ashtabula Township Fire Chief Michael Fitchet said the scene
was chaotic when city fire crews arrived at 8:13 a.m., just
three minutes after the call was received.
"The fire appeared to have a good head start. (Ashtabula)
Chief (Rick) Balog said when he pulled up, (Charles Sr.) was
coming out of the house, and was badly burned," Fitchet said.
"There was extremely heavy fire upon arrival, with extreme
heat."
Knowing that there were people inside, firefighters worked
frantically to knock down the flames and permit a search for
possible survivors.
"There was a child on the first-floor landing, a child
upstairs in the hallway, next to an adult, and a young person in
a back bedroom upstairs," said Ashtabula Fire Lt. Ross Caudill.
I brought the one child out. I thought he was alive. He wasn't.
The other victims, who were obviously dead when located, were
left in the house while Ashtabula County Coroner's Investigator
Thomas Kozesky and Ashtabula Fire Inspector Gerald Senger
conducted an investigation of the blaze. The bodies were not
removed until just before noon, after a representative of the
State Fire Marshal's Office arrived from Wooster to begin his
investigation.
The dead were identified by Kozesky as Stephanie Newman, 22;
Charles Newman Jr., 4; Matthew Newman, 2; and Frances Gray, 16,
who was Stephanieıs sister. Cause of death is pending autopsies
which will be conducted today at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's
Office, Kozesky said. While the cause of the fire has not been
officially released, a fire investigation dog was brought to the
scene Friday afternoon. ³
"Normally, on a fatal fire, we contact the state fire marshal
and bring in an arson accelerant dog," Kozesky said. "Itıs just
a matter of routine."
Neighborhood residents said they heard what sounded like
explosions just before the fire broke out.
The next-door neighbor Jewel Denton, 1003 W. 43rd, said she
was getting ready for work about 8 a.m. when she heard two
distinct booms.
"By the time I got to the door, the whole house was in
flames," Denton said. "The guy that lived there came and told me
to call the fire department. He didn't have any clothes on, just
what he probably slept in. He was running down the street,
telling everybody to call the fire department. He said his wife
and kids were in the house."
Denton said the family had only moved into the home a month
or so ago. Eyewitness reports indicated Charles Sr. escaped the
flames by jumping out of a second-story window. After asking for
help from neighbors, he apparently attempted to go back into the
house to try to save his family. Kozesky said Charles Sr. was
transported to Ashtabula County Medical Center, where he was
treated for his injuries and released. He is staying with
relatives in the area.
An official report from the fire department will not be
available for a couple of days, Caudill said. Ward 3 City
Councilman Steven Sargent said it was about 8 a.m. when he had
dropped someone off at a house just east of the home that
burned.
"There was no sign of fire then," Sargent said. When the fire
department arrived at 8:12, it was fully engulfed. Whatever
happened, it happened fast. There are so many questions: Why?
How?
A man who came to the house about 6 p.m. Friday identified
himself only as a friend. He said he visited the home just two
nights before the fire. "They were complaining about the smell
of gas," the man said. "They complained to the landlord about
it."
Kozesky said he had spoken with a representative of Dominion
East Ohio gas company, who said the company had been contacted
about the problem at the house and had inspected it before the
fire without finding any problem.
Many neighbors and curious onlookers watched as the small
army of firefighters, police and emergency medical crews
converged on the scene and fought to gain control of the
situation. Many maintained a somber vigil for another three
hours, when the victims were removed from the home. Asked at 6
p.m. how long he expected to stay on the scene, Kozesky said,
"As long as it takes to get what we need." Fitchet said the
firefighters would be evaluated to see if it is necessary to
bring in Ashtabula County's Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
team.
"If we think theyıll need some help, we'll call them in,"
Fitchet said. "I'm sure it will have some effect on them. It
would have to or they're not human."
Fitchet said in such situations, the firefighters often help
each other. "They'll go back to the station and talk about it,
vent some," he said. Sargent said he attended the Friday morning
press conference concerning the announced consolidation of
Ashtabula and Harbor high schools at 10 a.m. before heading over
to the fire scene, which is in his ward.
Some people are upset about the consolidation, acting like
it's the end of the world," Sargent said. "But (Superintendent
William Licate) told everyone at the press conference that the
story wonıt even make the front page, because four people
perished in a fire this morning. There are other things more
important in life."
The city had experienced one other fatal fire this year. A
4-year-old boy, Michael Eidens, apparently died in his sleep of
burns and smoke inhalation in a fire which started in the early
morning hours of June 23 at his home at 1652 W. Third St. |
