Charles Ryder
1954-11-21 2015-03-07
WESTFIELD CENTER – A house fire on Greenwich Road resulted in one person dead and one injured March 7.
Charles Ryder, 61, of Westfield Center, was unable to escape the residence at 7038 Greenwich Road after a blaze broke out at about 5 a.m. The homeowner, Kathleen Price, was transported to Medina Hospital with minor injuries, but reportedly will recover.
The fire is still under investigation.
Westfield Fire and Rescue personnel were on the scene minutes later, as the assistant chief lives down the street.
Chief Richard Fletcher said Price, who is on oxygen, reported waking up in the middle of the night to “take her oxygen off and smoke a cigarette.”
“She maybe fell asleep after that,” Fletcher said. “She maybe feels like that could have contributed to the fire.”
Price reportedly exited the home without a phone and began trying to draw attention from neighbors by sounding the horn on a vehicle parked in the driveway. A neighbor next door came out from his residence, attempted to check inside Price’s residence and then called 911.
Fletcher said there are conflicting stories on whether or not Ryder exited the home and went back inside.
“The first thing when we responded was rescue because we knew someone was inside,” he said. “Operations quickly went to search and rescue. There was a lot of debris cluttering the house and made it difficult to try and find him. We couldn’t find him until we at least put the fire at bay.”
Fletcher said it took three searches before Ryder’s body was finally located.
“There was no way he could have survived that long,” he said. “The floors were compromised. It wasn’t safe for the firefighters.”
Fletcher said that fire crews were on scene for about 12 hours. An excavator was brought in to demolish the structure. Mutual aid was provided by Seville, Lafayette, Lodi, Chatham and Wadsworth fire departments, as well as Canaan and Sterling fire departments in Wayne County.
Members of the American Red Cross were on the scene nearly the whole time, according to Fletcher, helping firefighters stay refreshed and rested.
“I can’t say enough about the Red Cross,” Fletcher said. “Everybody did a good job. It was just a very challenging situation with the house ... Can’t say enough about all the guys and the hard work they put in.”
Published in the Southern Medina Post, March 10, 2015, www.thepostnewspapers.com/southern_medina
Charles Ryder, 61, of Westfield Center, was unable to escape the residence at 7038 Greenwich Road after a blaze broke out at about 5 a.m. The homeowner, Kathleen Price, was transported to Medina Hospital with minor injuries, but reportedly will recover.
The fire is still under investigation.
Westfield Fire and Rescue personnel were on the scene minutes later, as the assistant chief lives down the street.
Chief Richard Fletcher said Price, who is on oxygen, reported waking up in the middle of the night to “take her oxygen off and smoke a cigarette.”
“She maybe fell asleep after that,” Fletcher said. “She maybe feels like that could have contributed to the fire.”
Price reportedly exited the home without a phone and began trying to draw attention from neighbors by sounding the horn on a vehicle parked in the driveway. A neighbor next door came out from his residence, attempted to check inside Price’s residence and then called 911.
Fletcher said there are conflicting stories on whether or not Ryder exited the home and went back inside.
“The first thing when we responded was rescue because we knew someone was inside,” he said. “Operations quickly went to search and rescue. There was a lot of debris cluttering the house and made it difficult to try and find him. We couldn’t find him until we at least put the fire at bay.”
Fletcher said it took three searches before Ryder’s body was finally located.
“There was no way he could have survived that long,” he said. “The floors were compromised. It wasn’t safe for the firefighters.”
Fletcher said that fire crews were on scene for about 12 hours. An excavator was brought in to demolish the structure. Mutual aid was provided by Seville, Lafayette, Lodi, Chatham and Wadsworth fire departments, as well as Canaan and Sterling fire departments in Wayne County.
Members of the American Red Cross were on the scene nearly the whole time, according to Fletcher, helping firefighters stay refreshed and rested.
“I can’t say enough about the Red Cross,” Fletcher said. “Everybody did a good job. It was just a very challenging situation with the house ... Can’t say enough about all the guys and the hard work they put in.”
Published in the Southern Medina Post, March 10, 2015, www.thepostnewspapers.com/southern_medina