Firefighters lose grandma in fire
Grandson tried to rescue her but blaze was too intense
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BURGHILL -- A volunteer firefighter tried to rescue his grandmother from a house fire, but the woman died just inside the home's front door before she could be helped.
"The heat and the smoke were just too much, it pushed him back. And he didn't have turnout gear on," said Brookfield fire Capt. Mike Hagood of Brookfield volunteer firefighter Dan Cole.
Ila Whitmore, 91, 8075 Drake Stateline Road NE, was found dead just after 7 p.m. Saturday. Though Cole opened the door, saw his grandmother and tried to take her to safety, the fire was overwhelming, Hagood said.
Cole was next door visiting family when the fire broke out and he rushed over, Hagood said. His twin brother, Mike Cole, a volunteer firefighter in Hartford, later came to the scene and helped fight the fire, Hagood said.
Hagood was the next to arrive and Dan Cole told him where Whitmore was.
"She was right by the door, but couldn't get out. I had my gear on so I went in and pulled her out. I started to work on her, I tried to revive her, but …" Hagood said, shaking his head. "This is really hard. We're taking it hard; it's really tearing us up."
Medics arrived shortly after, but Whitmore "succumbed," Hagood said. Resuscitation efforts ended at 7:44 p.m., according to a 911 call log.
The initial 911 call was placed by a neighbor at 7:04 p.m., according to the log.
Three minutes later, Whitmore's son-in-law called 911 to report the smoke coming from her home. While on the phone with a Trumbull County 911 Center dispatcher, the man learned from his son that his mother-in-law died, according to a recording of the call.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire, which appears to have started in the kitchen. The Trumbull County Coroner's Office is investigating the cause of Whitmore's death.
The fire burned extremely hot and was making its way to the second floor when firefighters got it under control, which was just before 8 p.m., Hagood said.
Aaron Srbinovich, who lives across the street from Whitmore's home, made the first call to 911 after he and his wife noticed smoke coming from the house's laundry vent. The two went over to the house, while calling 911.
"But we were too late. It was fully engulfed," Srbinovich said.
Whitmore was a nice woman who didn't leave the house much, but was nearly always surrounded by family and friends, Srbinovich said.
"There was always a car in her driveway. There was always a grandson mowing the grass or shoveling the snow. On Sunday nights, for Sunday dinner, her driveway was always full. On Easter Sunday, they were parking in my driveway, too," he said. "You could tell she was a loved woman and a true sweetheart."
No firefighters were injured. Firefighters from several departments, including Vienna, Fowler, Johnston, Burghill-Vernon, Orangeville and the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, helped. Water tanker trucks were used because there are no water lines in the area, Hagood said.