Explosive Fire On Center Street In Mentor, Blaze Now Contained

MENTOR, OH — Firefighters battled a blaze at a home on Center Street on Thursday.

The flames were fed by natural gas, city officials said, and explosions were heard by neighbors. A plume of smoke from the fire was visible from over a mile away.

At 10:15 a.m., a residential fire was reported on Center Street. Callers reported seeing explosions and a large column of smoke. When firefighters arrived, the two-story garage was completely engulfed in flames, so crews set up a perimeter to try and prevent further damage to the main house.

Both electricity and natural gas service was shut off at the main gas meter to the house, since gas was feeding the fire. Hazmat equipment was used to stop runoff from the fire.

Luckily, the home was unoccupied when the fire started. No one was hurt during the blaze. The homeowner was met on the scene by Mentor Fire Chief Bob Searles.

The fire is now under control and the source of the blaze is under investigation. Crews will be at the scene throughout the day.

Due to the size and intensity of the fire help was requested from neighboring departments including Willoughby, Leroy Township, Kirtland, Painesville Township, Willoughby Hills, Eastlake, Wickliffe, Painesville and Willowick.

“We are grateful for all of the support that we get from our neighboring fire Chiefs, and for their assistance in insuring that we have enough resources to safely manage the fireground and all other fire and EMS calls in the community,”said Mentor Fire Chief Bob Searles.

“Fire crews did an excellent job to keep fire from extending into the home,” Searles added. “It’s unlikely that the fire could have been controlled without extension into the main house, without assistance from neighboring communities. We thank them all for their support, especially Kirtland Fire Chief Hutton, who arrived on scene early into the incident and assisted our incident commander with the initial scene management.”