Fire Damages House on Admiralty

A basement fire caused an estimated $30,000 damage to a house on Admiralty Drive Saturday.

Assistant Fire Chief Jack Draves said the fire started when the homeowner, who was working on the breakers, left a trouble light on a cardboard box and went to the store for a part.

When he returned, the fire department was on the scene and smoke was pouring from his house.

Draves said 13 firefighters from all four stations responded to the call to 18457 Admiralty about 12:30 p.m.

On arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the second floor windows, but could not tell where the fire was located.  

One crew started a search of the house to look for any possible victims, while other firefighters found the blaze in the basement and went to work on it.

Fire damage was limited to basement, although the entire house suffered smoke damage and several second-floor windows were broken for ventilation.

According to Draves, two days earlier, the home experienced electrical problems where only half the house had power. The male resident was out of town and talked his wife through resetting the breakers, with no success.

On Saturday, thinking he had a problem with his main electrical panel, he began changing the individual branch breakers, but it still didn't fix the problem. 

"He removed one of the 100 amp main breakers and went to the store to get new ones. Upon return, the fire department was on scene," Draves wrote in a news release.

The man had been using a trouble light to illuminate the area while he was working, and set it -- still lit -- on some cardboard boxes. The heat ignited the boxes.

No injuries were reported.

First Energy, working the Strongsville Emergency Response Team Fire Investigation Unit, determined that the underground service cable from the street had pulled out of the meter box, which caused the house to be supplied with only half power. 

The cable pulled away from the meter box as a result of ground settling. 

Anyone experiencing issues with their home electrical system should call First Energy or a qualified electrician, Draves said.