Star Beacon
ROAMING SHORES, Ohio — Seven young people safely escaped a smoke-filled house on Saturday afternoon at 1920 Beaver Dam Drive.
Taylor Fletcher, 18, said she was home with six younger children when one of the younger children noticed lights were flickering in the basement and he noticed some smoke.
When Fletcher went to check, she confirmed there was smoke in the basement and immediately gathered the children, a dog and two cats and put them in a car outside the structure and called the fire department.
“She did a really good job,” said Rome Fire Chief Ed Koziol. He said he saw one of the cats curled around the brake pad of the car.
Roaming Shores Police Chief Randy Rasmussen said he was the first responder on the scene and found all of the children safely in the car.
Koziol said firefighters found thick smoke in the first floor of the house, but the actual fire was confined to the (finished) basement. “(There was) zero visibility on the first floor,” he said.
The Rome Fire Department had been conducting a fire drill with firefighters from Hartsgrove, Orwell and Andover when the call came in. He said they helped fight the fire as well as firefighters from Morgan Hose and Montville fire departments.
“I was calm until I called the fire department,” Fletcher said. She said it was difficult getting her message across.
Shawn Fletcher, Taylor’s father, said the family was planning to move to Arizona and the sale of the home was supposed to close on Oct. 31. He said he is not sure what will be happening now.
Koziol said they were able to contain the fire in the basement of the home, but smoke continued to escape from the walls of the structure.
The family turtle was later retrieved from the home alive.
Koziol said he didn’t know the cause of the fire which is still under investigation with help from the State Fire Marshall’s Office.
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