SITTING IN A HOUSE THAT’S ON FIRE

AND DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT

TMC NEWS PHOTOS / BRIAN WOODS
Elyria – Dan Nelson of Elyria was sitting in his Nebraska Ave home this morning with a friend and wasn’t even aware of the fire raging above him.

Assistant Chief Ron Brlas of the Elyria Fire Department said that a person driving by Nelson’s home spotted smoke and fire coming from the roof Saturday morning. “The person alerted Nelson and his friend of the fire and they quickly got out of the house and called 9-1-1.”

Brlas said that when Firefighters arrived they found fire coming from the roof. “We discovered that the fire had started in a second floor bathroom exhaust fan. We believe it was caused by an electrical issue.”

The fire had been going for a couple hours according to Brlas and was eating away at the supports in the roof. “It was good that the person spotted the fire when they did, had the fire had more time to weaken the supports they could have given way and collapsed. The homeowner and his friend was not aware of the fire because the fire was above all of the homes smoke detectors so they had no idea that the roof was on fire.”

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in about an hour. Brlas estimates the damage at $40K.

Mutual Aid assistance was provided by Sheffield Village Fire, Avon Fire and LifeCare Ambulance.


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