Fire destroys 2 garages, damages east side homes

10/24/2003

A fire of suspicious origin yesterday destroyed two garages and damaged four single-family houses in East Toledo, causing an estimated aggregate damage of $48,000, Battalion Fire Chief Mark Klein said.

Occupants of three occupied houses escaped unhurt by the time fire crews arrived about 3 p.m. and found two unattached wooden garages at 1360 and 1354 Oak St. fully engulfed by flames and a 11/2-story wooden frame house at 1360 Oak burning. Parts of the exterior of a single-story wooden house at 1354 Oak, a two-story brick house at 1352 Oak, and a single-story wood frame house at 1359 Felt St. also were burning. One of the four houses was unoccupied at the time, Chief Klein said.

The blaze started at the garage at 1360 Oak and spread to the garage on the adjacent property at 1354 Oak and the four houses. Damage to the house and the garage at 1360 Oak, owned by John and Kelly Heninger, was estimated at $30,000 and $10,000 respectively. The garage at 1354 Oak had $5,000 damage, and the other three houses about $1,000 each, the chief said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.