AVON WAREHOUSE A TOTAL LOSS

Avon – Fire Officials in Avon are looking at electrical issues as the possible cause of the early morning fire that destroyed a warehouse in their city.

Chief Frank Root of the Avon Fire Department said they received the call at 1:37 a.m. Saturday morning of a possible structure fire at 1200 Center Road. “When our guys arrived they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the rear of the structure. This building once housed a trucking company but is currently being renovated to be the Children’s Museum of Avon. Due to the amount of fire we immediately began an defensive attack on the fire.”

Avon’s Automatic Mutual Aid brought them Firefighters and Engines from North Ridgeville and Sheffield Village. Root said that they knew they would need additional resources so he requested a MABAS Alarm. “I called for the First Alarm and that brought me Avon Lake with a squad, Westlake with an Engine, Elyria with a Ladder and Sheffield Lake with an Engine. Crews worked exterior for a bulk of the battle. Once it was deemed safe crews went into the front of the structure which is like an office area and began hitting small hot spots to prevent any fire damage to the front.”

Root said that with the exception of a couple small hot spots the front of the building only received smoke and water damage during the blaze.

Avon Lake Paramedics treated one Firefighter for an injury to his ankle. He was taken to the Emergency Room for further evaluation.

Root said that several factors allowed the blaze to get a good head start on Firefighters. “It’s in the middle of the night, there are no detectors inside of the building, unmonitored, unoccupied building – generally this is the result.”

A Fire Investigator from North Ridgeville Fire Department is assisting Officials from Avon in trying to determine the cause of the blaze. “We believe it started in the rear of the structure and everything right now points towards electrical. Nothing looks suspicious but the Investigators will look at everything to narrow it down to the actual cause.”

Root and his Command Staff on scene determined that it would be necessary to bring down portions of the building in order to finish off fighting the fire. “It’s all about safety. The crews did a great job tonight getting this fire knocked down and saving the front portion of the building and now to finish hitting the remaining hot spots we felt it was best to bring down a couple of the walls. We couldn’t risk sending Firefighters in there with the walls being as weak as they were and having them fall on our guys. Bill Biro from our Service Department brought the front end loader out and he is the one taking the walls down.”

With the exception of the one Firefighter receiving the minor injury, no other injuries were reported.

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