Candle likely source of Ada fire: Ada Head Start teachers thought fire alarm was drill (Story & Video)

 

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Candle likely source of Ada fire

Ada Head Start teachers thought fire alarm was drill

By BOB BLAKE

ADA — Sixteen young children and two teachers were finishing a tornado drill inside the First United Methodist Church in Ada early Tuesday afternoon. Then, the fire alarm sounded. Thinking it, too, was a drill, the collection of preschoolers and their teachers walked calmly to their normal meeting spot.

It was then as the scent of smoke wafted through the air, the sound of windows cracking and crashing that reality set in for the members of the HHWP Community Action Commission-run Head Start program.

“The fire alarm went off. I thought my assistant pulled it, she thought I pulled it. We didn’t know, we hadn’t had the opportunity to ask,” said Tara Swaney, the Head Start teacher. “We just grabbed our papers and headed out as normal. We could not see smoke but as soon as we got out our emergency exit door we could smell smoke. We thought, ‘Oh, that’s strange.’”

Once the children and two adults were safely to their meeting location on Main Street, Swaney said she turned around and could not believe her eyes.

“I turned completely around, looked at the church and smoke was coming out the front doors and out the top of the steeple,” Swaney said. “Dee’s [Nichols] yelling at me at the same time, she’s my assistant, she’s like, ‘It’s for real.’”

As the fire raged and began consuming the iconic Ada church, Swaney and Nichols moved the children first to the Ada Public Library. As the heat increased and smoke and burning embers began falling in the neighborhood near the church, the children evacuated the library to a spot on North Johnson Street, where parents met up with their children who hadn’t already been picked up at the library, Swaney said.

“I don’t even really remember a lot of my reaction. I just remember the crying and wondering if he’s OK,” said Jessica Short, whose 3-year-old son, Donovan, was at the Head Start program. “He had been hearing sirens for more than half an hour. The folks from the program hadn’t gotten to us to call us yet. At that point, someone had called my husband, who is one of our best friends, and said that he had our son, that he was at the library.”

It took more confirmation for Short to believe her son had made it out of the inferno unscathed, she said.

“I stayed on the phone with my husband and I still didn’t believe that my son was OK until he got there. When he got there I heard him say to him, ‘Donovan,’ and I heard my son say, ‘Daddy, daddy,’” Short said. “I was just in tears. It’s a relief to know they’re OK. The teachers were amazing to get 16 kids, 16 3- and 4-year-olds out of that building that quickly.”

Dennis LaRocco, executive director of the HHWP Community Action Commission, said for now the Head Start program will not operate until temporary arrangements can be made at a nearby facility. The group has already started working toward securing a new, permanent location in Ada, he said. One option that is being pursued is the possibility of using a site about 10 minutes away in the Upper Scioto Valley school district for the Ada program. Nothing definitive has been determined, he said.

“They want to get it going as quickly as possible,” LaRocco said. “There’s a lot of logistics they have to work out. It’s going to be several days before we get that accomplished.”

Published in The Lima News: March 15, 2012

 

Candle likely source of Ada fire: Bishop Ough holds prayer service on corner (Story & Video)

 

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Candle likely source of Ada fire

Bishop Ough holds prayer service on corner

By BOB BLAKE

ADA — An unattended candle near combustible material is being blamed for igniting a fiery blaze Tuesday that destroyed the 113-year-old First United Methodist Church in Ada, a state fire marshal’s spokesman said Wednesday.

Even as firefighters continued to periodically spray the remaining hot embers, an investigation by the Division of State Fire Marshal concluded the fire was accidental. Sixteen children and two teachers in a basement day care and other people who were in the church at the time escaped unharmed.

“Officially the fire will be ruled undetermined because investigators were not able to complete their examination of the scene due to safety concerns with the structure of the church,” said Shane Cartmill, a spokesman for the state fire marshal’s office. “A few homes nearby the church suffered minor radiant heat damage, including burned roofs, melted siding and scorched vegetation. The nearby library suffered similar minor damage. A home a block away from the fire also suffered damage when blowing embers drifted onto the home’s roof.”

Bob McCurdy, a church trustee, said the church will in all likelihood have to be demolished, possibly as early as today. Despite losing a landmark, McCurdy said there’s more to the church than bricks and mortar.

“The focus is on life, on humanity, life goes on,” McCurdy said. “This is a building and the building is very important to the community and a building that our members cared about deeply and invested in tremendously, especially in the last few years.”

Even as the fire raged Tuesday, the administration at Ohio Northern University was busy extending offers of assistance to the church, its congregation and the firefighters battling the inferno, university President Daniel DiBiasio said.

“Our association with the church in general and our particular association with this church has a long history,” DiBiasio said. “So many of our university community members are members of this church, our students worship here. From the get-go from the first that we heard of it we wanted to do all we could to provide support.”

The church will take up temporary refuge in the university’s English Chapel beginning this Sunday, DiBiasio said. There will be space for worship services, Sunday school classes and day care. The university is also offering office space and technology support. All of it will be offered as long as the church needs it, DiBiasio said.

Members of the church community received a morale boost just before noon Wednesday when Bishop Bruce Ough, of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, arrived at the corner of Main Street and Highland Avenue, across the street from the burnt remnants of the church, for an impromptu prayer service.

“Now that would be quite a miracle if we could take it down and rebuild it in three days, right? What Jesus was really trying to remind them is who the real temple is,” Ough said. “Even though this is a structure that many of us are attached to and you are attached to, this is really about remembering that Jesus is ultimately the temple. That temple cannot be destroyed and neither can this temple. Bricks are gone, the building’s down, the roof’s caved in, but this can never really be destroyed.

“It’s not ultimately about this building it’s about the fact that Jesus lives and because of that he will raise up this congregation and give you another spiritual home. It may not look like this one. It may not even be on this site, who knows what God has in store, but the promise remains and that is that Christ will raise you up.”

Published in The Lima News: March 15, 2012

Children escape Ada fire (Story & Video)

 

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Children escape Ada fire

Landmark Methodist church completely destroyed

By BOB BLAKE

ADA — Smoke and flames were visible from miles away Tuesday afternoon as an Ada landmark burned to the ground.

Fire consumed and destroyed First United Methodist Church, 301 N. Main St., just after noon Tuesday. Teachers and about 16 children from a head start day care center, operated by the Hancock Hardin Wyandot Putnam Community Action Commission, escaped without injury.

From all angles, onlookers flocked to the scene, snapping photos and video on their cellphones and cameras as the fire raged. There were hugs and tears exchanged as residents and visitors alike watched events unfold.

“Whether I was a member of the church or not, this is a very sad day for Ada. This is a landmark building, a beautiful old church,” said Michael Elliott, a church member who lives across the street. “They just don’t build them like this anymore, they won’t build them like this anymore. It’s just so sad to have lost that. I really feel bad, I feel bad for this whole community.”

LeAnn Pryer, 41, has lived in Ada her entire life.

“I went from Lima Memorial Hospital to here to the church to be baptized,” she said. “It was my first public appearance.”

She said the church was more than a place of worship, it was a community center. Scout meetings and overnights, pancake breakfasts and more were all held at the center.

Elliott’s house was one of a number of adjacent structures with damage from the heat and flames. Those repairs, however, weren’t Elliott’s focus Tuesday afternoon.

“My house can easily be repaired and easily fixed but the church over here — I mean, it’s gone,” he said. “It’s gone. It’s just tremendously sad.”

A 911 call was placed reporting the blaze at the same time Ada Police Department Patrolman Matt Purdy noticed smoke coming from the roof of the church and told dispatch to get firefighters to the scene, Police Chief Michael Harnishfeger said.

“It was a significant event even before we discovered it really. We called the Fire Department,” Harnishfeger said. “We’ve had three or four structures that have had some damage. We were dousing them with water, the Fire Department was.”

Ada Firefighter Dave Zimmerly was one of the first on the scene. He said firefighters went up the stairs into the sanctuary area and were met with intense heat, forcing them to their knees. Black smoke prevented them from seeing much, and debris was falling from the ceiling. “At that point it was a safety issue. We knew it was in the sanctuary, but we couldn’t get to it,” he said.

Firefighters from Alger, McGuffey, Kenton and Dunkirk in Hardin County, Bluffton and Lafayette in Allen County along with Mount Cory and Jenera in Hancock County responded to assist the Ada Liberty Fire Department.

Harnishfeger said the Division of State Fire Marshal was on scene to aid in the investigation into what caused the blaze. No cause had yet been determined late Tuesday, he said.

He said investigators and insurance representatives will inspect the building today. A crane was on site in case the structure became unstable. Harnishfeger said the front wall of the church was the biggest concern.

The church, a recognizable town icon, was first formed in 1852, according to information on the church website. The congregation moved into the current building on June 18, 1899.

Church members, community members and well-wishers spent part of the evening at a prayer vigil downtown.

“That was kind of a healing prayer service,” church trustee Bob McCurdy said.

Church board members met at Ohio Northern University on Tuesday night to figure out the next steps for the 300-member congregation.

The church will resume regular Sunday activities at ONU’s English Chapel, including Sunday school, nursery and worship, all at the same hours, McCurdy said.

He said the university and many other individuals and groups, like Habitat for Humanity and the Ada Ministerial Association, have reached out to help the church.

“ONU made the offer almost instantly,” McCurdy said. “They’re pretty amazing when it comes to community responsiveness. They’ve offered office space, they’ve offered technology.”

McCurdy said nearly everything the church had was lost in the fire.

“There were some church records retrieved, but very little,” he said. “We’re all hoping that once we gain permission to go into the building, we may find something. Right now we’re not expecting that.

News of the church’s destruction brought quick reaction from folks both near and far.

“What a terrible tragedy,” wrote Tom Matteson, of Oxford, Mich., on LimaOhio.com. “This was a beautiful church!”

Reporter J.D. Bruewer contributed to this story.

Published in The Lima News: March 14, 2012

Irish eyes are smiling (Story & Video)

 

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Irish eyes are smiling

Thousands turn out for biggest parade to date

By BOB BLAKE

LIMA — Clad in matching white sweatshirts dozens of members of the Brennan clan took to their float, “A Little Bit of Heaven,” eyes glistening after bagpipers played “Amazing Grace.” A photograph of a beaming Mike Brennan surveyed the scene from those sweatshirts.

That was the scene near St. Gerard Catholic Church on Saturday morning minutes before the 20th Lima Irish Parade kicked off down Main Street. Under a sunny, bright blue sky, the Brennan clan helped lead the largest gathering of parade participants down a crowd-filled road.

Saturday was to have been Brennan’s turn to serve as parade grand marshal with his wife, Judy. He died Jan. 21 — the very day he learned of the honor.

“It was really an honor, surprised. When they told Mike he laughed and he said, ‘What’d I get two votes from both daughters?’ We said, ‘No you got more than that,’” Judy Brennan said. “It means a lot. He loved this parade, loved being Irish. He liked everything about it. He would love today.”

Brennan said her late husband always enjoyed coming to Lima’s annual parade. Celebrating his Irish heritage was a big deal, she said.

“He liked the music. He like the camaraderie, just being around family and friends,” she said. “We were almost married 50 years, and we always went out St. Patrick’s Day. That was a big deal. We always celebrated it. In fact, that was his confirmation name was Patrick. It meant a lot to him.”

Thousands of folks, young and old alike, came out for Saturday’s early celebration. Children and adults came ready with all manner of bags to hold the fistfuls of candy tossed by parade participants.

The parade was held a week ahead of St. Patrick’s Day in part to ensure bagpipers would be able to attend and participate, Darby Bourk, parade co-chair said.

“I’m excited every year for it. I know there were some people upset we did it a week before,” Bourk said. “Our parade has always been the Saturday before. If we would have did it next week it would have been a great turnout again, we wouldn’t have had bagpipers. I don’t think we would have had the turnout we had. This is the biggest parade we’ve had in years.”

Bourk said well more than 120 participants signed up to be part of this year’s parade.

“I think it’s just great for the Lima community,” he said. “We get so much bad press sometimes that you know something like this brings the whole community together.”

Published in The Lima News: March 11, 2012

 

Robbery mirrors murders (Story & Video)

 

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Robbery mirrors murders

Mendon crime has similarities to Grube killings

By BOB BLAKE

CELINA —Nearly three months after an elderly man and his caretaker daughter were bound and shot to death, investigators were looking into a weekend robbery with eerie similarities at the other end of Mercer County.

Sheriff Jeff Grey said authorities were called to 12617 Dutton Road, north of Mendon, shortly after midnight Saturday on report that three individuals, including one with a gun, forced entry into the home.

The two men and a woman who broke in attempted to bind Kathy Fair, 47, and her father, William Fair, 79, with duct tape, Grey said. The intruders also threatened to kill the elderly man if the pair did not tell them where the money was.

“I’m concerned for a couple of things. Obviously, Mercer County is not a place where we deal with this kind of stuff so when homicides happen or home invasions happen it traumatizes the community,” Grey said. “I’m concerned about the fear the residents have right now especially when I’m standing here telling you I can’t tell you who did it. I want people to be very aware of their surroundings.”

Grey said Kathy Fair answered the front door and a short, stocky man, a little shorter than 5-feet 7-inches with reddish blond hair asked if an individual was home and when she looked out she could see someone, taller than 5-feet 7-inches behind him in a ski mask. They then forced their way in.

After the two men were inside, Kathy Fair heard a loud vehicle approach and a third person — a woman around 5-feet 2-inches tall entered, also wearing a ski mask, Grey said.

“There was a struggle with both of the victims,” Grey said. “Both victims had minor scrapes and cuts on their wrists and forearm, no serious injury.”

The Fairs told deputies the suspects left in a dark-colored, boxy sport utility vehicle with a loud exhaust that fled south on Dutton Road.

The case is eerily similar to the Nov. 30 double murder of Robert Grube, 70, and his caretaker daughter, Colleen Grube, 47, at their home near Fort Recovery. In addition to the victims being similar in age, a vehicle matching the description from the Mendon case was seen in the area of the Grube homicides, Grey said.

“We don’t know whether this case is connected to the Grube case,” Grey said. “At this point we are assigning it to the same three detectives, we’re going to investigate it like it is part of the Grube case until we can show otherwise. That’s because there are a lot of similarities.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 567-890-8477.

Published in The Lima News: Feb. 28, 2012

Tough guy breaks down (Story & Video)

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Tough guy breaks down

Lucas gets 17 years for beating, robbing elderly woman

By BOB BLAKE

LIMA — Margaret Ditto had lived at her home on Dewey Street in Delphos for 20 years. It was a place where she lived alone, feeling safe and secure. That all changed one night in July, Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick said.

That’s when Andrew Lucas, 26, knocked on Ditto’s door, asking to use the telephone. When she said no, Lucas forced his way in and began beating her severely, Waldick said.

Lucas then went further into the house stealing a lockbox that contained several important documents, a ring and jewelry, Waldick said. The lockbox was never recovered.

“He didn’t just steal her lockbox. He didn’t just beat her up,” Waldick said. “Those injuries we believe will go away. The trauma he inflicted on this poor woman will never go away. A year after the beating and now 89 years old, she is afraid to live at home. She’s told people that she doesn’t feel safe anymore. He stole her security; he stole her sense of serenity that she had living where she had for all that time.”

Lucas will have time to think about that July 21 evening. On Wednesday, Judge Richard Warren sentenced Lucas to 17 years in prison for aggravated burglary and felonious assault. Lucas wept as Warren issued his sentence.

Lucas’ comments during Wednesday’s hearing in Allen County Common Pleas Court were brief.

“I want to say that I’m deeply sorry for what I did. I just want Miss Ditto to have closure for what happened to her. There isn’t really too much I can say except I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Waldick showed graphic photos prior to the sentencing depicting what happened to Ditto. Deep bruises covered her arms, neck and face. She was bloodied, one of the punches knocking the dentures out of her mouth and breaking them.

“In 25, 26 years of prosecuting this may be one of the worst home invasion assaults that I’ve seen. We’ve seen other cases where people have been killed during home invasions but in terms of somebody surviving this, this woman was hurt very severely,” Waldick said. “She ended up in the hospital not once but twice. I just wanted to make sure her suffering and the things she went through didn’t go unnoticed or not remembered.”

Published in The Lima News: Nov. 24, 2011

LACCA evacuated after bomb threat (Story & Video)

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LACCA evacuated after bomb threat

By BOB BLAKE

LIMA — Children and staff members at the Lima/Allen County Council on Community Affairs were evacuated from the building Thursday morning after someone called in a bomb threat, officials said.

The threat was called in around 10:45 a.m. to the facility at 540 S. Central Ave., according to Jackie Fox, chief executive officer at LACCA.

“We had a bomb threat called in anonymously this morning,” Fox said. “We took the precaution of evacuating the building and calling the authorities. They swept the building to make sure.”

Once staff at the facility were alerted to the threat, Fox ordered the evacuation according to emergency plans, she said.

Adults and children at the facility remained outside for about 40 minutes while members of the Lima Police and Fire departments conducted a sweep of the building. No suspicious items were found, she said.

Fox said staff members were not overly concerned that the threat signaled any imminent danger.

“We have close to 250 children and parents and adults in this building at any given time,” Fox said. “We are going to take the extra precaution even if we don’t think it’s serious or think it’s a prank, we’re going to take that extra precaution and follow our procedure.”

Published in The Lima News: Oct. 14, 2011

 

CSX train car kills worker (Story & Video)

 

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CSX train car kills worker

By BOB BLAKE

WAPAKONETA — A Cincinnati man was crushed to death early Thursday when he became pinned between the engine and cars of a CSX train between Wapakoneta and Botkins.

Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon identified the worker as Dennis A. Hemme, 59, of Cincinnati. Solomon said the accident happened around 5:15 a.m. just south of Taylor Road, south of Wapakoneta near the Auglaize-Shelby county line.

“It does not involve a vehicle and a train,” said Chief Deputy Mike Eberle, of the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office. “It looks like at this point one of the employees was off the train doing some type of maintenance and got pinned between the engine and the cars.”

The incident held up trains on the busy north-south rail line for hours. Officials from the Sheriff’s Office and CSX police also spent hours at the scene, just west of the intersection of county Road 25A and Taylor Road.

“It appears that the southbound train was having trouble crossing a small grade north of Botkins. Another engine was pushing the train to assist it getting over the grade,” Solomon said. “After the train was over the grade the train was stopped and the two were disconnected. Hemme was between the train and engine that were disconnected when the train rolled back into the engine pinning him between the two.”

Hemme was pronounced dead at the scene by Auglaize County Coroner Thomas Freytag. Hemme’s body was sent to Lucas County for an autopsy, according to Chief Deputy Mike Eberle, of the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office.

“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with our colleague’s family and friends during this difficult time,” said Carla Groleau, a CSX spokeswoman. “We appreciate the efforts of local authorities for their response to this incident. The accident is under investigation.”

Botkins police and firefighters and the Ohio State Highway Patrol also aided CSX police and the Sheriff’s Office at the scene.

“CSX Railroad Police are investigating further into the incident as it occurred on the railroad property,” Solomon said. “Nothing at the scene indicated anything more than a work-related accident.”

Published in The Lima News: Sept. 9, 2011

Donation of the Corn (Story & Video)

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Students help farmer donate corn to vets

By BOB BLAKE

ROCKFORD — A group of Parkway High School pupils received a firsthand lesson in helping others on Thursday morning. The lesson wasn’t in a classroom, but in a rural Rockford cornfield. It all happened thanks to a chance encounter at an area pharmacy.

The mission for the dozen pupils, all members of the Parkway FFA, was simple: pick sweet corn from a one acre plot on Rob Hoehamer’s farm. The beneficiary of their labor — the Allen County Veterans Food Pantry.

“Our FFA has always been involved in community projects as much as we can. We like to help the community,” said Caden Hellwarth, president of the Parkway FFA. “We thought it was a really good idea for Rob to donate his corn. It’s a really nice thing. We thought it would be a good idea to help with that if they need our help.”

Hoehamer said injuries have forced him to scale back over the years from planting sweet corn on 10 acres of his farmland to just an acre. During a talk with his pastor earlier this year, Hoehamer said he decided to sell some of his harvest to longtime customers, recoup the costs of planting and donate the rest.

A chance encounter with Sandra Bohle, director of Angels for Veterans, at a Celina pharmacy set things in motion for the donation to the veterans food pantry.

“I was just going to give it to whoever needed it. I started out with our church members then I did give some to the CALL Food Pantry in Celina,” Hoehamer said. “I advertised on the radio and people came out and picked and I helped them pick. I met Bohle in Celina one day just by accident and gave her a call and here we are.”

Bohle said as she learned Hoehamer’s daughter is in the U.S. Coast Guard she offered the services of her organization if he ever needed them, including giving Hoehamer her business card.

“We just kind of chatted for a few minutes and went our separate way. I didn’t think about it really again,” Bohle said. “Here just a couple days ago my phone rang and it was Rob. He said, ‘Hey do you remember me from CVS?’ I said, ‘Well sure I do.’ He started to explain to me that he had all this corn that needed picked and he had a disability and he’d like do donate that corn.”

A call to folks at Parkway schools quickly led to finding volunteers for the corn-picking mission.

“I’m sure it’s going to be pretty easy. I mean, it’s picking corn,” said Destinee Guggenbiller, vice president of the Parkway FFA. “We do it at home every day whenever we have sweet corn in our garden or field corn or whatever.”

Growing up around agriculture made it natural for the club members once they hit the field and started picking. Getting out of class didn’t hurt, either.

“My whole family farms so it’s just natural, I guess,” she said. “Obviously, you love getting out of school, I mean everybody does. It’s for a good cause.”

Published in The Lima News: Sept. 2, 2011

50 flags await Elida native (Story & Video)

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50 flags await Elida native

25-year veteran welcomed home

By BOB BLAKE

ELIDA — Something was different. Maj. Terry James White knew that much as he headed out hurriedly Saturday morning with his dad in the family’s blue Jeep. It became evident when they arrived back at his parents’ rural Elida home.

As the Jeep driven by his father pulled down Ridge Road, White could see the 50 American flags waving gently in the early morning breeze.

“Were you surprised or not?” his mother, Kathie White, asked.

“Yeah,” the 25-year veteran of the Air Force said, a smile etched on his face. “I was totally surprised. The family was taking me out the door so quick this morning. I didn’t know what was going on. As soon as we came around the corner, I saw all the flags. I was impressed. It’s quite a scene.”

The flags were set up at the home by members of the Lima Exchange Club as part of the club’s Flags 4 Soldiers program that launched this year. The program honors local service members who are leaving on a deployment or returning home from one.

The reunion, with family and friends, marked White’s return to the area from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. The joint mission with the Army was to help train the Afghan national army, he said.

“The Afghanistan mission, mentoring with the Afghans, was definitely a change of pace from the typical Air Force duties,” White said. “I really got a big thrill out of it, being able to help them out.”

Service to country is nothing new for this family. White’s wife, Mia, retired after 20 years in the Air Force. Three sons are in the service now — one who is moving to Guam, another who is deployed in Qatar and a third who was just commissioned as an officer in the Army in Oklahoma.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Mia White said of seeing all the flags. “It’s just an amazing sense of pride. It means a lot that people take the time to say thank you.”

White said service to country is just part of his family’s make-up.

“It’s just stepping up and doing what we have to do to keep America safe. To me, I like being part of the team,” he said. “Being in the military, it’s always an event. It’s not just going in, checking in, day to day. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a culture, the military family. I’ve been honored to be able to do for the last 25 years.”

After a year in Afghanistan, White said, he was appreciating the little things being back in Ohio.

“It’s been great. In Afghanistan, there’s not a lot of anything green so coming to Ohio is a great change of pace, seeing all the fields,” White said. “It’s beautiful. Being away for 25 years, it’s great to be back in Ohio.”

The Elida High School graduate has spent his two-plus decades in the Air Force seeing the world. Prior to his deployment to Afghanistan, White spent six years stationed at the headquarters for NATO in Italy. His last station will be a little closer to home.

“It was a great assignment. I worked with 28 other nations,” White said. “Learned a lot about the different cultures, also the efforts that take place in Europe. I’ve saved Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for the last one just so I could get a home and settle down, which we’re doing.”

Published in The Lima News: Aug. 14, 2011