Friends of Officer James Kerstetter along with residents who want to pay him tribute are attempting to line Abbe Road with luminaries and flags in tribute to him Friday night.

They hope to line the road from state Route 57 all the way into Sheffield, part of the route Kerstetter’s family will take between their home, the funeral home and a public funeral Saturday at the LCCC field house.

Anyone who would like to help is asked to meet at Kurtz Brothers on Miller Road in Avon at 6 p.m. Friday.

The group especially requests that homeowners along Abbe in Sheffield consider decorating their own lawns.

Donations of flags, candles or luminary bags would be greatly appreciated.

E-mail kthildebrand@hotmail.com for more details.

TENTATIVE funeral arrangements announced yesterday by the funeral home:

• Visitation 2 to 9 Thursday at Bauer Laubenthal Funeral Home, 38475 Chestnut Ridge Road, Elyria.
• Visitation 2 to 9 Friday at Bauer Laubenthal Funeral Home, 38475 Chestnut Ridge Road, Elyria.
• Funeral 10 a.m. Saturday at the LCCC field house.

Check back for confirmation when these details are firmed up.

ELYRIA — Simultaneous fires overnight in Elyria left the Fire Department “stretched beyond thin,” according to Capt. Joseph Pronesti.

Luckily for everyone involved, both fires were vacant homes.

The call for the first fire, in the 900 block of Foster Avenue in Elyria, came in about 3:15, Pronesti said, and firefighters arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames.

Foster Avenue fire:

Photos of Maple Street fire below.

Firefighters fought the fire defensively, which means they focused on containing the fire and protecting surrounding homes and did not make an interior attack or attempt to save the home itself.

Pronesti said the department did not yet have an address for the home because it had collapsed, but he said it was a 2½-story home. He called the home a total loss but didn’t have an estimate of its value.

A second fire call came in at 3:55 a.m. at 346 Maple Street, also a vacant single-family home, Pronesti said.

Eleven firefighters were on duty overnight, Pronesti said, and they were all on the scene of the first fire, so the department had to rely on off-duty firefighters being called in and mutual aid from surrounding communities to get to the scene on Maple Street.

“We had no resources,” Pronesti said. “We had to call mutual aid for the second fire. There was really nobody able to go, so we had to rely on other towns to go straight to the fire.”

A “reserve apparatus” staffed by three Elyria firefighters called in from home arrived on scene in 6 minutes, Pronesti said.

“But that’s just three guys,” he said. “They had to wait for mutual aid, which took about 10 to 15 minutes to get there.”

Firefighters from Lorain, Carlisle Township and Sheffield Village responded.

The back of that home was fully engulfed, Pronesti said, and the fire spread to the attic and walls.

He estimated damage was about $40,000. A Carlisle Township firefighter was hurt when he got glass in his foot, but he’s OK, Pronesti said.

Causes of both fires remain under investigation, Pronesti said. He’s just relieved no lives were on the line.

“Fire and time go hand in hand,” Pronesti said. “If they were occupied structures, obviously it’s huge. Fire doubles in size every minute. It’s a serious issue.

“We can’t rely on off-duty people coming from their home in a city our size to start a fire attack and rescue,” he said.

View Elyria fires March 17 in a larger map

VERMILION TWP. — A Lorain County sheriff’s captain is in good condition today after he accidentally shot himself over the weekend.

Reiber

Lorain County Sheriff’s Captain John Reiber was test-firing a weapon on a relative’s property in Vermilion Township when it misfired, according to Capt. Paul Sigsworth with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

A single bullet went through Reiber’s right hand and lodged in his abdomen, according to Sigsworth.

The gun is an off-duty weapon belonging to Reiber’s wife, who is an officer with the Avon Police Department, Sigsworth said.

The handgun was malfunctioning, and Reiber took it to the property at 5300 Cleveland Road East (U.S. Route 6) to test-fire it and try to determine why it was malfunctioning, Sigsworth said. He was attempting to clear it, and it discharged.

Reiber was able to walk to a neighbor’s house, and the neighbor drove him to Community Regional Medical Center in Lorain. CHP called Vermilion police, who contacted the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office got the call at 3:08 p.m., Sigsworth said, and Reiber told them the incident happened between about 2:30 and 2:45 p.m.

A deputy spoke with Reiber and his wife at the hospital, Sigsworth said. Reiber was later transferred to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, where he is listed in good condition this morning, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

There is no indication of criminal conduct or foul play, Sigsworth said.

“We’re considering this strictly an accidental shooting,” Sigsworth said.

The shooting occurred on private property in a rural area, where it is legal to fire a gun, Sigsworth said.

LORAIN — Lorain firefighters responded overnight to a fire that destroyed one South Lorain garage and damaged two others and a car.

Firefighters were called to 4421 Camden Ave. about 4:40 a.m., according to Assistant Fire Chief Randy Hupp. Camden runs between Homewood Drive and Fairless Avenue east of Southview High School.

The fire was fully involved when crews arrived, Hupp said, and wound up spreading to damage two neighboring garages and a car in the driveway of the first garage.

The first garage was a total loss at $25,000 damage to it and the car, a 1996 Mercury. Two other garages, at 4425 Camden and 4424 Norfolk, sustained $7,000 damage apiece, Hupp said.

Hupp said the garages were very close together but set far enough behind the homes that no homes or people were in immediate danger.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the department’s Fire Prevention Bureau, Hupp said.

Crews were on the scene for several hours.

View Lorain garage fire in a larger map