CLEVELAND — A 40-year-old man died, and his 58-year-old mother was injured in a fire late Monday night. The Cleveland Division of Fire later confirmed that the home did not have working smoke detectors.
Firefighters rushed to the burning house located along West 59th Street and Dension around midnight. When fire officials arrived, they said the house was fully engulfed, and smoke could be seen rising from several blocks away.
At one point, our Overnight News Tracker captured firefighters sawing through and ripping down fencing to get access to the property. Cleveland Fire Public Information Officer Lieutenant Mike Norman said that the high winds complicated matters, making the fight challenging for responding crews. He says the home had "several contents inside."
"The fence, location of this house being set back from the street a little bit, the wind driven aspect of it—this was a challenging fire to fight. The assistant chief and I spoke. He couldn't even tell what it was—whether it was a building, a house," Norman said.
Cleveland Fire said that at one point, the 40-year-old son re-entered the house, apparently trying to save his dogs. He was then overcome by smoke and heat from the wind-driven fire, according to Cleveland Fire.
Rescue crews pulled him from the burning home. He and his mother were both then rushed to Metro. That's where Norman confirms the son died of his injuries. His mother remains at the hospital where she is getting treatment.
"This brings us to 15 (deadly fires) for the year. Ya know, we are on base to have our most deadly year since 2006 when we had over 20 fire fatalities, we just gotta get the word out to people. This house did not have working smoke alarms," Norman said.
Norman says if you are in need of smoke alarms, call the American Red Cross at 216-361-5535. They will provide devices free of charge, and Cleveland Fire will come out to help install them. Norman says fire investigators are working to determine the cause of this fire.
