Container Top
Homes   Jobs   Cars   Shopping
Search

Events Calendar

EVENT SEARCH:

In This Section


Most Read Stories


Blogs:


Pets:
A Dog Named Christmas – Pet for the Holidays

The Heldenfiles:
Viewing Notes

Patrick McManamon:
Of pass interference and alleged "fake" injuries

Akron Zips:
No. 1 Akron to play Stanford next

Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster

Cleveland Browns:
Audio: Mangini disputes Poteat call, accuses Lions of faking injuries

Kent State Sports:
Flashes travel to Florida Atlantic

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeye Football – Present and Future

Varsity Letters:
Gulley to visit Central Michigan in December

All Da King's Men:
The Onion, By Any Other Name…

Blog of Mass Destruction:
Glaring Contradictions

Akron Law Café:
Don't Try to Have Fun if you are Depressed

See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic

Car Chase:
What Automotive Thing Are You Thankful For?

Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?

Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.

Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall

HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why I am Glad I live in NEO

Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go

Medina boy, 7, dies in house fire

By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer

A house fire in Medina early Monday killed a 7-year-old boy and sent his mother and four siblings to the hospital.

Tashawn Okoye, 7, died when a fire broke out in the second floor of a duplex in the 200 block of West Smith Road shortly after midnight.

Medina Police Sgt. Nathan Simpson was treated for smoke inhalation and burns and cuts to his hands in an attempt to rescue the boy.

Unable to pass through the stairway filled with smoke and flames, Simpson, a six-year veteran of the department, climbed a ladder and entered the home through a window on the second floor. He was unable to see in the heavy smoke and felt his way around the room before finding the child in his bed, police say.

Simpson handed the child out the window to waiting officers and neighbors, authorities said.

Second Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal Mark Crumley said the heavy fire and smoke was visible coming from the second floor of the structure when the fire department arrived on the scene two minutes after receiving a frantic 911 call from a passing motorist at 12:10 a.m.

The child's mother and four siblings escaped the flames through windows and were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation, Crumley said.

He said he did not know if anyone was living on the first floor of the duplex.

Investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office were called in to establish a cause and origin of the fire, Crumley said. It is believed the fire started on the second floor, but no official cause will be released until laboratory results are available.

There is no evidence of foul play, he said.

Crumley said he saw one smoke detector laying on the floor in the building following the fire. He said although it had been mounted on the wall, it contained no batteries.

Medina County Coroner Neil Grabenstetter said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.


Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.

A house fire in Medina early Monday killed a 7-year-old boy and sent his mother and four siblings to the hospital.

Tashawn Okoye, 7, died when a fire broke out in the second floor of a duplex in the 200 block of West Smith Road shortly after midnight.

Medina Police Sgt. Nathan Simpson was treated for smoke inhalation and burns and cuts to his hands in an attempt to rescue the boy.

Unable to pass through the stairway filled with smoke and flames, Simpson, a six-year veteran of the department, climbed a ladder and entered the home through a window on the second floor. He was unable to see in the heavy smoke and felt his way around the room before finding the child in his bed, police say.

Simpson handed the child out the window to waiting officers and neighbors, authorities said.

Second Assistant Chief/Fire Marshal Mark Crumley said the heavy fire and smoke was visible coming from the second floor of the structure when the fire department arrived on the scene two minutes after receiving a frantic 911 call from a passing motorist at 12:10 a.m.

The child's mother and four siblings escaped the flames through windows and were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation, Crumley said.

He said he did not know if anyone was living on the first floor of the duplex.

Investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office were called in to establish a cause and origin of the fire, Crumley said. It is believed the fire started on the second floor, but no official cause will be released until laboratory results are available.

There is no evidence of foul play, he said.

Crumley said he saw one smoke detector laying on the floor in the building following the fire. He said although it had been mounted on the wall, it contained no batteries.

Medina County Coroner Neil Grabenstetter said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.


Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.



Story tools

Email  Email   Print  Print   Save  Save   Reprint  Reprint   Popular  Most Popular   Reprint  Subscribe

Share this story

AddThis Social Bookmark Button
















Most Commented Stories