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A teenager uses a lighter to look under his bed, and investigators believe that may have started an apartment fire that left dozens of families homeless.
Around 8:00 Monday evening, flames break out on the sixth floor of the Chestnut Lake Apartments on Whitney Road in Strongsville.
"It spread pretty quick, cause we had just gotten back cause it was five minutes that we were in our apartment, and alarms started going off, we didn't have time to grab anything, it's just halls started filling up with smoke," said displaced resident Rebecca Mihocik.
Tuesday, displaced residents return to gather belongings and pets that survived.
"You could see the flames from this side, the fire was on the other side of this wing over there...it was bad, alot of smoke," said displaced resident Leino Bartolozzi.
"There was a 14-year old child that was in the bedroom and he was cleaning the room, re-arranging some stuff under his bed and it was dark, and instead of trying to locate a flashlight, he had a Bic lighter in his possession," said Strongsville fire chief Bob Moody.
Moody says the lighter caught the mattress on fire, as well as items under the bed.
"There were a couple attempts by the youth to actually fight the fire, he ran to the bathroom, grabbed a cup of water, threw it on the fire, that didn't do a thing obviously, and then he ran into the hallway to grab a fire extinguisher," said the chief.
"Then he opened the door, he said it was out, and then opened the door and all this smoke came out, and that's when everybody started downstairs," Bartolozzi said.
Investigators say the worst of the damage is contained to the apartment where the fire started. About 40 units on the fifth and sixth floors suffered smoke and water damage. The boy was not hurt.
"He's fine, the hair on his forehead was singed a little bit, but he was able to get out, mom and dad grabbed him and they got the family out," said the fire chief.
The fire chief says the entire roof needs to be replaced, so the Red Cross is putting up families in a local hotel. Apartment building managers are also looking for empty units that some residents can live in temporarily.
Chief Moody says the fire was accidental, and investigators do not plan to file any charges against the 14-year old boy.
Around 8:00 Monday evening, flames break out on the sixth floor of the Chestnut Lake Apartments on Whitney Road in Strongsville.
"It spread pretty quick, cause we had just gotten back cause it was five minutes that we were in our apartment, and alarms started going off, we didn't have time to grab anything, it's just halls started filling up with smoke," said displaced resident Rebecca Mihocik.
Tuesday, displaced residents return to gather belongings and pets that survived.
"You could see the flames from this side, the fire was on the other side of this wing over there...it was bad, alot of smoke," said displaced resident Leino Bartolozzi.
"There was a 14-year old child that was in the bedroom and he was cleaning the room, re-arranging some stuff under his bed and it was dark, and instead of trying to locate a flashlight, he had a Bic lighter in his possession," said Strongsville fire chief Bob Moody.
Moody says the lighter caught the mattress on fire, as well as items under the bed.
"There were a couple attempts by the youth to actually fight the fire, he ran to the bathroom, grabbed a cup of water, threw it on the fire, that didn't do a thing obviously, and then he ran into the hallway to grab a fire extinguisher," said the chief.
"Then he opened the door, he said it was out, and then opened the door and all this smoke came out, and that's when everybody started downstairs," Bartolozzi said.
Investigators say the worst of the damage is contained to the apartment where the fire started. About 40 units on the fifth and sixth floors suffered smoke and water damage. The boy was not hurt.
"He's fine, the hair on his forehead was singed a little bit, but he was able to get out, mom and dad grabbed him and they got the family out," said the fire chief.
The fire chief says the entire roof needs to be replaced, so the Red Cross is putting up families in a local hotel. Apartment building managers are also looking for empty units that some residents can live in temporarily.
Chief Moody says the fire was accidental, and investigators do not plan to file any charges against the 14-year old boy.
