ELYRIA — Firefighters are on the scene of a fatal house fire at 443 West River Road North in Elyria.

A 54-year-old man removed from the home is dead, according to Elyria Fire Chief Rich Benton. No other victims were found during a primary search of the home.

Benton said the man is believed to be Frank Sabol, and Frank Sabol is listed with the Lorain County auditor’s office as the owner and occupant of the home.

Listen to scanner audio traffic from the fire. (Clip is edited for length and content. Total elapsed time is about an hour and a half.)

The fire was fully involved when firefighters arrived. Flames could be seen shooting out of multiple windows and there was very heavy smoke.

Firefighters first reported they were mounting an offensive attack on the fire and had a search in progress for a person or persons believed to be in the home.

A person was taken out of the home all bundled up and on a stretcher and was placed in an ambulance, which did not immediately leave the scene.

Scroll down for more photos.

There is one person dead, according to Herb de la Porte, vice president of LifeCare.

After the person was removed from the home, firefighters reported they were “going defensive” on the fire, meaning they were no longer trying to save the house but simply trying to contain the fire. They later reported they were back in offensive mode.

Passers-by had attempted to rescue the person trapped in the home but said they could hear the person but couldn’t get to him or her.

Listen to an audio interview with Theresa Smith of Elyria, who tried to rescue the man.

Firefighters from Lorain, Sheffield and Avon were called in to assist.

A small dog the man owned is missing. It is not known whether the dog died in the fire or ran away.

The fire was reported about 11:30 a.m. At 1:15 p.m. firefighters reported the fire was under control but that they would remain on the scene.

West River Road North is closed to traffic while firefighters fight the fire.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story as it becomes available.

View Elyria fatal fire in a larger map

Photos by CT Photo Chief Bruce Bishop. Purchase a print.

AMHERST — An Amherst man has been found dead following a fire in his Amherst home.

The fire was discovered this afternoon but was out when firefighters arrived at the small home at 1127 N. Main St. and may have occurred up to several days ago. There was very little evidence from outside the home that there had been a fire.

The man, who was in his 50s, was found in the middle of the living room floor. He lived by himself.

The home is owned by Charles Longworth, according to the Lorain County auditor’s office. It couldn’t be confirmed immediately whether Longworth was the man found dead, but the 1127 N. Main St. address was the mailing address listed for Longworth as well.

A neighbor called police after looking into the home.

The man’s mother was at the scene and said she hadn’t heard from her son in a couple of days.

A yellow cat apparently owned by the man was darting around the accident scene scared, and people were trying to coax it to safety.

Read tomorrow’s Chronicle for more on this story.

Free Thanksgiving dinners will be offered at various locations this week to residents in need of a holiday meal.

All are welcome to attend the following dinners:

• 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Lorain County Community College Spitzer Conference Center, 1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria.
• Noon to 3 p.m. Thursday at Second Baptist Church, 427 Chapman Lane, Elyria.
• Noon to 4 p.m. Thursday at the American Legion, 393 Ohio St., Elyria The dinner is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 12. The sick and shut-in can have meals delivered by calling (440) 366-0430.
• 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at St. Mary Church in the Parish Hall, 250 Third St., Elyria.
• Noon to 2 p.m. Thursday at Sidelines Sports Grill, 105 Fairlawn Ave., Elyria. Dinners are available for pickup or delivery. To place an order, call (440) 322-6688.
• Noon to 5 p.m. Thursday, Michael’s Family Restaurant, 19797 Detroit Road, Rocky River.
• 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Tommy’s Pizza Chicken Ribs, 34441 Center Ridge Road, North Ridgeville.

Please note: Wesleyan Village is not hosting a community Thanksgiving meal. A list that appeared Saturday incorrectly indicated it was having one.

Is your organization having a free Thanksgiving meal? E-mail rproudfoot@chroniclet.com with any additions to this list.

Holiday closings

City, county, state and federal offices will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of Thanksgiving holiday. Exceptions are safety forces.

Sanitation collections by the city of Elyria and Republic Services will not be made on Thursday, but will resume on Friday. Those on a Friday pickup will have their trash picked up Saturday.

Post offices, banks and the Elyria Public Library will be closed Thursday, but will be open on Friday. Some banks with automated or in-store ATMs may be available to conduct transactions.

Most retail stores will be closed Thursday or have restricted operating hours. Convenience stores follow their regular store schedules. Stores closed Thursday will reopen with special hours beginning Friday morning.

Lorain County Transit buses will not run Thursday but will return to weekend routes early Friday morning. E-check emission stations will be closed for the holiday.

Taxi services will be available throughout the holiday.

LORAIN — Lorain Schools is considering closing down one of the two high schools as part of a myriad of cost-cutting measures that will have to be explored to erase a $9 million deficit the district will face in 2011.

Students would likely move to the high school that remained, saving between $1.5 million and $2 million, and some staff from the shuttered school may also have to be cut.

Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said a decision on consolidating Admiral King and Southview high schools would have to be made before the end of the year to prepare, and no move would take place until fall 2010 at the earliest.

Atkinson said Tuesday the move isn’t final and no decision has been made in terms of which school would be closed, but the prospect is appealing because the district was planning to go to one high school anyway once a new building is erected.

“The thinking is if we are going to go to one high school at some point, why not do it now and get some cost savings out of it?” Atkinson said in advance of Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

The district is currently working with the Ohio School Facilities Commission to refine its master building plan and in the course of those conversations, it was determined that state money would be granted to build one new high school to replace the existing ones. Atkinson said there is no timeline yet on when that new high school would arrive.

She said neither school would have a problem handling the population of the other.

Atkinson and her staff have been discussing areas the district could cut since voters rejected a 6.43-mill levy by more than 6,000 votes earlier this month.

Other proposals include eliminating preschool, additional layoffs, reduction in books, stopping building repairs and vehicle purchases, and additional building consolidations, perhaps to include moving Whittier Middle School students to another building in advance of a new middle school building scheduled to be built soon.

“I think the people spoke through their vote, and we would be less of leaders if we did not rise to the occasion,” Atkinson said. “This will be difficult, but necessary.”

Atkinson presented the proposed cuts to school board members Tuesday night with the sobering news that even with the estimated $4.1 million they would save and another try at an even larger levy in February or May, the district would still be short $2.1 million in 2011.

Read more

• High schools on the chopping block in Lorain.
• Levy needed, but it won’t be enough, school board says.
• Anger remains from 1996 closing of Elyria West.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com and Adam Wright at 329-7129 or awright@chroniclet.com.

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