Multiple businesses seriously damaged in Akron fire

PHOTOS: Akron firefighters responded to the scene of a commercial building fire in the early hours of Friday morning. About 12:45 a.m., firefighters responded to 1241 Diagonal Rd. The building has several businesses inside, including a car repair shop, a barber shop, and a restaurant. Firefighters fought the fire defensively because of the amount of fire that was showing upon arrival. All of the businesses were heavily damaged. The fire was under control around 3 a.m. Roads were closed in the area during the fire fight. No one was hurt. No word on a cause.
WJW-TV Fox 8 Cleveland

Canton police looking for man whose stray bullets hit passing ambulance, car

Police are looking for a man accused of shooting a passing ambulance and two other vehicles during a domestic dispute Thursday afternoon. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Willie Edward Evans Jr., 36, of Columbus Avenue NW. Firefighters called police at 3:25 p.m. to Fire Station 8 on Dueber Avenue SW to report their ambulance had been struck by gunfire. Battalion Chief Steven Henderson said two firefighter/paramedics were on board and they had no patients in the ambulance when the vehicle was hit. They were not injured. Police Captain Dave Davis, who heads the detective bureau, said in a news release that investigating officers found that the paramedics were driving on Tuscarawas Street W at Columbus Avenue NW when they heard gunshots and believed their vehicle had been struck.
Canton Rep

Drone video shows aftermath of Elyria’s vacant Uncle Vic’s building after it went up in flames

A pair of 17-year-old boys have been arrested as authorities investigate the fire that ripped through the vacant Elyria building known as "Uncle Vic's" on Kerstetter Way overnight. The Elyria Police Department announced their arrests Thursday morning. One of the boys faces aggravated arson, breaking and entering and failure to report a crime. The other boy, police say, faces breaking and entering. Both were taken to the Lorain County Detention Home pending a hearing with juvenile court. Their arrests were announced after firefighters in downtown Elyria spent hours Wednesday night into Thursday morning battling the blaze at the building that once housed several night clubs. "It's horrible," one resident told 3News at the scene. "Horrible. There's a lot of memories up in there. Every Friday and Saturday night there used to be a line of people waiting to get in."
WKYC-TV NBC 3 Cleveland

Division of Forestry provides more than $382K to support rural Ohio fire departments

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry recently approved grant funding for 55 projects totaling $382,855 for fire departments in rural areas of Ohio through the Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) Grant program. “The services that local fire departments provide are essential to the safety and well-being of families and properties in the communities they protect,” said Dan Balser, Chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. “In addition to wildland fire fighter training, we are pleased to be able to provide funding for the acquisition of upgraded equipment to our frontline partners in wildfire prevention and suppression.” VFA Grant projects are focused on supporting rural fire departments and helping them continue to deliver safety services to their communities. VFA grants are open to fire departments that serve communities with populations of less than 10,000 people within the ODNR Forestry wildfire protection area.
Highland County Press

Update: The second of 4-year-old twin boys died after north Columbus house fire

The Columbus Division of Fire said Thursday the second of four-year-old twin boys has died after both were pulled from a Saturday morning house fire in north Columbus. Columbus firefighters were called to the 3000 block of Glenshaw Avenue just west of Westerville Road around 7:40 a.m. after children knocked on a neighbor's door for help. When firefighters arrived, they found Yonatan and Solomon Nashih, both four years old, on the second floor of the home. The children were taken to Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital and died this week. Nahan Kosof, a neighbor, said he’s known the family for three years and they’ve become close. As soon as he saw the kids in distress, his heart immediately sank. Officials say three older children, ages 17, 14 and 11, were able to escape and went to Kosof's house. “One of them was just wearing boxers and none of them had shoes on,” Kosof said. Kosof ran out to see smoke coming out of the home and was told by the kids that the twins were still inside.
WBNS-TV CBS 10 Columbus

Firefighters knock down walls at abandoned building in Elyria after fire burned all night

A fire that broke out just before 8 p.m. Wednesday in Elyria was still burning into the early morning hours Thursday. The call came in for a fire at a vacant commercial property in downtown Elyria at 100 Washington Ave. The building used to house restaurants, a nightclub, and apartments. It’s been vacant for several years. Flames were shooting out of the building when firefighters arrived on the scene. Units from departments all over Lorain County responded to help get the fire under control. Mutual aid units started being released from the scene in the early morning hours Thursday when the fire appeared to be under control.
WJW-TV Fox 8 Cleveland

Cincinnati toddler who died in apartment fire may have accidentally sparked blaze himself, officials say

An Ohio toddler who died in an apartment fire earlier this week may have accidentally sparked the blaze himself, authorities said. Firefighters make the initial attack on Wade Walk this afternoon. Our citizens are everything to us. That we lost a life today due to fire is heartbreaking. We will not rest until all of our residents are safe from the ravages of fire. According to The Associated Press and WLWT, Cincinnati Fire Department officials said Amari Campbell, 3, may have been lighting incense when a fire broke out Monday afternoon in his grandmother’s apartment near Wade Walk and Winchell Avenue in the city’s West End. Emergency crews responded to the scene shortly before 2:30 p.m. and found the child, who had suffered serious burns, under a bed, the AP reported. He later died at a nearby hospital.
WHIO-TV CBS 7 Dayton

Turtle World Medina: Firefighters use special masks to save animals in fire

Officials suspect a heating element caused a fire that claimed the lives of some turtles at an exhibit in northeast Ohio. Firefighters responded to a report of a shed fire at Turtle World of Medina on Wednesday afternoon. In a Facebook post, the department said firefighters removed approximately 10 turtles, which included two large tortoises, from the smoke-filled shed and used specially designed masks to administer oxygen to the reptiles. About half the turtles did not survive, firefighters said. “The shed had been insulated and heated to house the turtles and it is believed that one of the heating elements started the fire,” the department said. Turtle World of Medina bills itself as “a place to enjoy the wonder of turtles and tortoises.”
Cincinnati Enquirer & Cincinnati.com