FIRE GUTS FAMILY HOME

Wellington Firefighters responded at 10:28 a.m. Thursday morning to 142 Wheeling Street in the southwest side of town for a house fire. Firefighters arrived and found heavy smoke and fire conditions on the first and second floors.

There was only one person and her dog in the home at the time of the fire and they were both able to escape without injury.

Geraldine Bender said she works nights and had just gotten home, did a load of wash and threw it in the drier before falling asleep on the couch. The next thing she remembers is hearing her 10-year-old Long Haired Jack Russell dog named Lucy barking. “That woke me up and all I could see was smoke in the house so we both got out right away.”

The American Red Cross provided assistance to Bender and her teenage son by giving them a few essentials. Bender will be staying at her parent’s home in Elyria for the time being.

Chief Robert Walker of the Wellington Fire District said their Department received on scene mutual aid from LaGrange Township and Oberlin Fire Departments with manpower, engines and Oberlin’s Tower Truck. Rochester Fire Department covered the station during the fire. Carlisle Township Fire Department covered a traffic crash for Wellington on Route 20 east of Route 58.

The Lorain County Association of Fire Investigators along with Wellington Fire District’s Investigators have inspected the home and say that the fire started in the room that houses the washer and dryer. “She had thrown a load of clothes into the dryer then laid down on the couch in the front room, because of the heat and heavy fire damage to that room we believe that is where the fire started.” Chief Walker said that the room was unfinished (no drywall) and that helped the fire spread quickly up the studs and into the second floor of the home. “There was no drywall in that back room, all open wall studs, that is why the fire spread so rapidly there was no protection for the walls. It spread from the drier fire up through the ceiling, burnt the floor rafters off, spread then went up into the attic.”

Fire Officials estimate that the structure suffered $50,000.00 in damages.

To see more photos from the scene: CLICK HERE