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 WARREN
DILLAWAY / Star Beacon
HARBOR AREA residents talk with firemen at a fire on Union Avenue in Ashtabula
Sunday afternoon.
Fire damages Harbor home;
loss estimated at $60,000
By CHRIS FOREMAN
Staff Writer
ASHTABULA - City firefighters spent about two hours ventilating a Union Avenue
home Sunday afternoon after smoke from a fire contained in the basement filled
the entire residence.
Investigators from the Ashtabula Fire Department are still determining the cause
of the fire that caused $15,000 in structural damage at 1435 Union Ave. in
Ashtabula Harbor at 2:47 p.m., said Fire Capt. Mark Calaway. Another $45,000 in
personal property also was damaged, according to an incident report.
Calaway said the home is owned by Frank P. Clayman Jr., who is a trooper with
the Saybrook post of the Ohio Highway Patrol. Clayman's father, Frank P. Clayman
Sr., is a former Ashtabula city firefighter.
Calaway confirmed reports from neighbors that Clayman Jr. and his family were
not home when the fire broke out. Although a final cause has not been
identified, Calaway said some officials believe the fire might have been caused
by a problem with a transformer or the electrical wiring.
Firefighters who responded to the scene initially had trouble finding the source
of the fire because of the lay-out of the basement, Calaway said. Responders
used a thermal camera to assist their search, he said. The divisions in the
basement also made it hard to drag the hose to the fire, Calaway said.
"It just doesn't glide on its own," he said. "It takes someone to move it along
at each corner and we don't have 80 guys to tug on the hose."
Some neighborhood residents mentioned the need for the city to open a second
station. In May, about 54 percent of city residents voted against a 0.3 percent
income-tax increase to fund the reopening of the Harbor Fire Station on West
Ninth Street. City officials still are evaluating what to do with the property.
Calaway said Sunday's response time of five minutes was pretty good for
September.
"For sure, from the Harbor station, it would have been about a minute and a half
response," he said. "It might have been 10 to 12 minutes at wintertime, which
could make a huge difference because a fire doubles in size each minute."
The Ashtabula Township Fire Department also responded Sunday to the Union Avenue
fire.
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