Our Lady of the Elms Fire & What You're Saying About It
On Sunday morning, the Our Lady of the Elms athletic complex in Bath Township burned down.
- By Megan Rozsa
- Email the author
- January 9, 2013
On Sunday morning, around 12:30 a.m., Amy Ciccotelli called 911 after seeing a blaze at the Our Lady of the Elms athletic complex in Bath Township.
"I was driving home from Aurora and couldn't believe what I was seeing," Ciccotelli posted on Fairlawn-Bath Patch's Facebook page. "... I was frantically telling (the dispatcher) to PLEASE (sic) hurry, that they were gonna (sic) lose the whole building."
The Bath Fire Department arrived around 12:40 a.m., said Lt. George Seifert, and by then a building used as a concession stand and storage facility was enveloped in flames.
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The building has been deemed unsafe and the cause is still under investigation, Seifert said. However, arson has been ruled out as a cause, said Assistant Fire Chief Tim Gemind.
Firefighters from Copley, Fairlawn, Richfield and Valley were called in to help extinguish the flames.
After we posted this story as breaking news on the site, you chimed in on Facebook with your thoughts. Here is what you are saying about the blaze:
Cheryl Tennant Hopkins OMG, that is terrible!!!
Jennie Narraway All of us Elms girls and women hope the person(s) responsible are found and the complex is rebuilt quickly for current students and families. This is awful.
Alicia Pelland Bickett It hurts just to see the picture.
Annie Ragsdale Thompson Is there anything we can do to help? Maybe help with the clean up?
Kara Williamson Bukowski Awful! Don't know details. Sad for elms. Kat loves her school!
Amy Rowe Ciccotelli Do you know I'm the one that called it in that night? I was driving home from aurora and couldn't believe what I was seeing! The 911 dispatcher had no idea where it was. She had to ask someone. And I was frantically telling her to PLEASE hurry. That they were gonna lose the whole building. I got off at 18 and circled back and ended up following the fire trucks there. When we got there there were three cop cars and they were STILL working on busting the lock off. GRRRRR!
Are any of you parents of Elms children? Have you heard anything about taking up donations to help rebuild? Tell us in the comments.
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Bath Township Fire Department
3864 W. Bath Rd., Bath Township, OH41.1088-81.6822Bath Township Fire Department
3864 W. Bath Rd., Bath Township, OH330-666-3738/listings/bath-township-fire-department1844597/locations/4967609 -
City of Fairlawn Fire Department
3525 S Smith Rd, Fairlawn, OH41.134149-81.626938City of Fairlawn Fire Department
3525 S Smith Rd, Fairlawn, OH330-668-9540/listings/city-of-fairlawn-fire-department1423399/locations/1699310