The cause of a trailer fire at 354 Second Avenue in Galion remains under investigation by the Galion Fire Department, in conjunction with the State Fire Marshal’s office. The fire claimed the lives of its three residents: 25-year-old Jordan Stewart, 5-year-old Conner Stewart, and 3-year-old Elizabeth Stewart.
An official report from the Galion Fire Department stated the fire started in the bathroom area of the home, but the exact cause is still under investigation. Lt. Todd Eagle of the Galion Fire Department explained firefighters could pinpoint the general area where the fire began; the challenge is determining why.
“In the whole front half of the mobile home, there’s a lot of smoke damage but no fire damage,” said Eagle. “It burned out the back almost completely. That shows that the fire was burning for a while. Obviously that takes some time to burn through the wood completely like that.”
Eagle stated that at this time it is believed there were no working smoke detectors in the home.
“Even when we get to a fire – and we were there within 20 minutes – usually the smoke detectors are still going off, and nobody reported hearing anything, so at this point I would say there were none in the house,” he said. “I’ve been to many fires where they’re driving you crazy because they’re still going off.”
Chief Phil Jackson of the Galion Fire Department also stated while there was a kerosene heater in the trailer, it was absolutely not the cause of the fire. The trailer had electric and water services, but as of Sept. 2 they did not have gas.
“(The kerosene heater) was located in the non-burnt portion,” said Jackson. “It was being heated in the kitchen and living room area but that’s one thing we can rule out as the cause of the fire. It was still intact and not burnt.”
The trailer was one of five homes owned by Robert Wireman of Galion. He stated he knew Jordan Stewart as a child, and had plans to check on Stewart’s parents at their home on First Avenue.
“I’ve known the boy about all his life, and I knew the kids when I’d come over and do stuff to help,” said Wireman. “They were real nice people and I enjoyed having them. It’s a terrible thing to happen.”
According to the report, interior wall coverings contributed the most to the spreading of the flames, and high winds on Tuesday evening contributed to ignition. The Galion Fire Department received aid from Bucyrus Fire Department, Crestline Fire Department, and Jefferson Township Fire Department.
The report states both Jordan Stewart and Conner Stewart were deceased upon firefighters’ arrival at approximately 5:56 p.m. on Tuesday. Firefighters removed Elizabeth Stewart from the fire, and Eagle stated CPR was being performed on her the entire time.
“She was not responding from the time we pulled her out,” he stated. “We had to fight through fire again just to make entry back into the house. At that point everything had fallen. We removed debris and knocked down the fire. It took us about five minutes or so to find the other victims and at that point there was no chance that anybody had made it.”
Currently autopsies are being performed on the three victims, a standard procedure in deaths by fire, said Eagle.
Jackson noted that it is likely the victims succumbed due to smoke, not fire, as they were found in areas of the home that had not been burnt. Eagle stated there were no obvious signs that the victims were trying to escape the home.
