Editor's Note:
An earlier version of this article stated that the impacted property was once part of the Finney Farm. It was actual part of the Vinson Farm. A correction has been made.
MADISON TOWNSHIP — A house fire on Cook Road resulted in a multi-agency response but no injuries Monday morning.
Neighbors reported the fire at around 8:30 a.m. The owner and sole occupant of the home, Mark Shramko, was already at work.
“I’ve got a couple cats,” Shramko said. “I have a couple kitty doors, so hopefully they made it out.”
Trucks and personnel from the Madison Township Fire Department, City of Mansfield Fire Department, Troy Township Fire Department, Springfield Township Fire Department and Shelby City Fire Department were all on the scene Monday morning.
“This is a unique area because of where this building is, it’s actually in Madison Township. The house next door is in Washington (Township) and the buildings across the street are in Mansfield,” said Chief Ken Justus of the Madison Township Fire Department.
Firefighters were still spraying the structure as of 11:30 a.m.
Justus said no one fire department in the area could have handled the blaze on its own.
“I think this is a testament to the fact that the fire departments in this county work together,” he said.
“This is a big fire. We’re going to be tied up here for a long time. We’re going to have a lot of pick up and clean up later and it’s nice to have all the departments working together.”
Shramko commended fire personnel for their compassion and response.
“All the fireman did a great job. They’re real nice,” he said. “It’s kinda sad when you see them chainsawing through your wall and stuff like that, but they gotta do what they gotta do.”
Justus said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but that it started in the middle of the structure before traveling up the second and eventually third floor.
Wrong address, distance from road
Several factors made it difficult for fire personnel to find the home.
The location of the fire was initially reported to authorities with a non-existent address — 1938 Cook Road.
Originally constructed as a horse barn, the home has a cornerstone inscribed with the year was built. Shramko said someone likely read the cornerstone and mistook it as the house number.
“(The dispatch center) sent Troy and Springfield (township fire departments) to go look for that. They could not find it,” said Justus.
“The Mansfield Fire Department actually came over here and found this building on fire.”
The home is also located at the end of a private driveway lined with pine trees. Neighbors said fire trucks weren’t able to come up the driveway due to low-hanging branches.
As a result, firefighters routed several hoses from the nearest fire hydrant on Cook Road, down Tarzana Drive and a lengthy private driveway — approximately four-tenths of a mile. Another fire truck was stationed in a neighboring driveway.
“This is not a standard fire. Typically our fires are smaller and we can respond quickly and put them out a lot quicker,” Justus said. “Because of the size of the building and the fact that it’s kind of tucked back off the road a little bit, I think it had a pretty good head start on us.”
Neighbors said the home and several surrounding properties were all part of a historic farm estate.
According Kelleigh Dotson, the farm was owned by her great grandfather S. Glenleigh Vinson, the founder and first president of Ideal Electric. Dotson said the property stayed in the family through the mid-2010s.
Shramko said the barn had been converted into a home before he purchased the property.
“Everyone that went through there would say it’s pretty unique,” he said.