No serious injuries were reported after a bus chartered by the Elyria and Open Door schools was involved in an accident on the way back to Lorain County from a ski trip last night, according to a spokeswoman for the Elyria Schools.

The accident happened at Snowville Road and U.S. Route 21 in Brecksville about 8:20 p.m., according to Brecksville police. The Lakefront Lines bus was returning to Lorain County from Brandywine Ski Resort carrying ski club members from Open Door and from Elyria Schools’ Northwood Middle School, Elyria Schools spokeswoman Amy Higgins said.

Higgins said the bus was stopped at a traffic light when it was struck from behind by another vehicle. The other vehicle was a white Honda Accord.

Higgins said at least one student was taken to a hospital but was not seriously hurt. A father of a male student who was taken to the hospital also said no one was seriously hurt but that several students complained of headaches and dizziness after the accident.

Photos courtesy of Ron Stadnick, who was on the bus:

LORAIN — A recently divorced couple out for a drive early this morning got a scare when they lost control of their car and nearly wound up in Lake Erie.

The couple, a man who lives in Lodi and a woman who lives in Sheffield Lake, were in the parking lot of Jackalope, and the man decided to give the woman a lesson in driving the stick-shift Ford Taurus SHO a little before 7 a.m.

The car was into first gear when the woman accelerated to quickly and lost control.

The car went over a small embankment and struck a tree, which prevented it from going onto the beach east of Jackalope and into Lake Erie.

The couple were unhurt but a little shaken up.

Lorain police and the Lorain Fire Department responded. The car was to be towed from the scene.

Photos by Daniel E. Rice, special to The Chronicle-Telegram.

LORAIN — A fire yesterday evening at a vacant Central Lorain home is arson and was “done in a similar manner” to five recent arson fires a street over, according to the Lorain Fire Department.

A neighbor called about 6:30 p.m. to report a fire at 889 West 23rd Street, according to Assistant Chief Randy Hupp. West 23rd Street backs up to North Central Drive, where there have been five arson fires in the last month.

View Central Lorain arsons in a larger map

Fire was coming from two windows in a front bedroom of the single-story home when firefighters arrived, Hupp said. A back door to the home had been broken into previous to the fire, he said.

He said the home, valued at $24,500, was a total loss.

Hupp called the most recent arson “similar” to the North Central Drive arsons.

“Doors were broken in and stuff was done in a similar manner,” he said.

Hupp couldn’t say how the fire was started but said that in the string of fires, they’ve been started “sometimes just using stuff that’s been left in the house.”

Lorain police Sgt. Mark Carpentiere said police are working in conjunction with the Lorain Fire Department to investigate the arsons and are stepping up patrols in the neighborhood.

“We ask the public to contact us or the Fire Department with any information and to call the Police Department or the Fire Department if they see anyone suspicious in that area,” Carpentiere said.

Carpentiere said his advice to residents is “be alert of of your surroundings.”

“If you see people lurking about or going in or out of abandoned buildings,” call us.

People can call the Fire Department at 204-2221, the Police Department at 204-2100 or 911 to report an emergency.

The five previous arsons were all vacant 4-unit buildings on North Central Drive.

814 and 852 North Central burned Jan. 24, and 824 and 858 North Central burned Jan. 14.

Assistant Chief Anthony Cuevas in the Fire Department’s fire prevention bureau couldn’t initially recall the date or address of the first in the string of fires but said it was before Christmas and was next door to the Jan. 24 fire at 814 North Central. That first building has already been demolished, he said.

Check back at Chroniclet.com and read Thursday’s Chronicle for more on this story.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — Two abandoned four-unit homes on North Central Drive burned within hours of each other overnight, bringing to five the number of recent fires on the same short street the Lorain Fire Department believes were arson.

Besides the fires’ close timing and proximity, Assistant Chief Anthony Cuevas said the fact that the buildings were vacant points to arson.

“These buildings had no electricity or gas, and they’d been secured at some point,” Cuevas said. “There’s no accidental reason these buildings would have burned. Somebody intentionally set these fires.”

Firefighters were called to 814 North Central Drive just before 10 last night, according to Fire Lt. Shawn Lloyd.

One unit of the 4-unit building was destroyed, and all the units had smoke damage, he said. Damage was estimated at $20,000.

Cuevas was wrapping up his investigation and leaving the scene of the first fire about 11:30 last night when he saw what looked like lights or a television reflecting in the window of another building.

“I though ‘How could that be? There’s no power,” Cuevas said. “We found the back door kicked in, called for the pumper at the other fire, and sure enough.”

That fire, at 852 North Central, another four-unit building, caused about $10,000 in damage.

Just 10 days earlier, Jan. 14, 824 North Central Drive and 858 North Central Drive burned within an hour of each other. Those homes were abandoned four-unit buildings as well.

Cuevas said he investigated another fire sometime before Christmas. It was also a vacant four-unit building. He didn’t know the address, but said it was next to the 814 North Central fire from last night. That building has already been torn down, he said.

Cuevas wouldn’t comment on potential suspects, motives or how the fires were set. He said the Lorain Fire Department’s fire prevention bureau will put together a report on the fires, which it will forward to the Lorain Police Department’s detective bureau for investigation.