Authorities: 4 dead in Cleveland boarding house blaze

11/8/2009

CLEVELAND — Authorities say four people died in a fire in the upstairs bedroom of a boarding house.

The fire in the Cleveland neighborhood of Ohio City destroyed the boarding house and badly damaged the apartments next door.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Gray said authorities are having difficulty identifying the victims — three men and a woman — because of the transient nature of the boarding house visitors.

Authorities believe that six to 10 people were living in the house at the time of the fire.

Neighborhood residents described the boarding house as a nuisance, and said they had been trying for years to get the owner to make improvements.