A house fire on Bollinger Avenue NE in Canton blew a woman out of her own home Tuesday evening, injuring her and two neighbors who rushed to pull her away from the flames. Firefighters arrived at the 2300 block of Bollinger Avenue to find heavy fire pouring from the front of the residence, and it took crews about 30 minutes to get the blaze under control.
The injured woman was first taken to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital before being transferred to the burn unit at Akron Children's Hospital for specialized treatment, according to Cleveland 19 News. Mercy Hospital is verified by the American College of Surgeons as a Level II Trauma Center offering 24/7 advanced emergency and surgical trauma care for Stark County, according to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital. Akron Children's says it is one of two pediatric hospitals treating adult burn patients, which helps explain why an adult victim ended up at a facility built for kids.
Two neighbors who pulled the woman away from the burning structure sustained minor burn injuries themselves but declined medical treatment at the scene, according to WKYC. Firefighters conducted a primary search of the home during suppression operations and confirmed within 30 minutes that no additional victims remained inside. No firefighters were hurt in the response, per the same outlet, even as crews faced heavy fire extending across the front of the home.
Preliminary Reports Point to Oxygen Tank
The property damage from the fire is estimated at approximately $54,000, per WKYC's reporting. Preliminary reports indicated that an oxygen tank may have exploded during the fire, according to Jordan Miller News. Official fire origin investigations remain pending, and the cause of the fire has not been confirmed.
The Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal's Bureau of Fire and Explosion Investigation has investigative powers and handles burn-injury reporting requirements, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. The bureau's investigators are available 24 hours a day.
Latest in a String of Stark County Fires
The Canton Fire Department, which operates from eight fire stations across a 26-square-mile service area and handles roughly 20,000 emergency calls a year, has had a busy 2026. Stark County has seen multiple explosions and structure fires already this year, including a major home explosion in Canton this past July. Whether municipal and state agencies will jointly review the fire's origin remains unclear.
