BRISTOL - A woman died as firefighters from seven communities battled a structure fire early Tuesday that took out a pizza shop near the intersection of state routes 45 and 88 and trapped two people who were living in an upstairs apartment.
Matt Balut, assistant chief of the Trumbull County fire Investigation Unit, identified the two residents of the second-floor apartment as Sherry Seemann, who died of apparent smoke inhalation, and her father, William Seemann, who was taken to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital and then a hospital in Akron and appeared to be in serious condition. He said Mr. Seemann appeared to be in his 70s and his daughter in her 40s.
Balut said the 7:55 a.m. fire appears to be accidental and started in the rear of the first-floor Pizza Express, 1832 Greenville Road (state route 88) operated by Seemann's son Doug, a Bristol township trustee and who lives next door to the scene of the blaze.
Crews from the Ohio Department of Transportation issued an alert at 8:35 a.m., saying state Route 88 at the scene of the blaze was closed. A detour was set up temporarily.
Firefighters from Bristol, Champion, Bloomfield, Bazetta, Mecca, Farmington and Orwell fought the fire.
