Two firefighters were hospitalized Monday night after battling a house fire at a Broadview Heights home, and several police officers were also sent to the hospital after breathing in smoke. The blaze broke out on West Royalton Road and kept crews working into the early morning hours, with the road still closed to through traffic as of Tuesday.
According to WKYC, the two firefighters were transported to the hospital by ambulance, though their exact medical conditions were not known. Police Chief Don Polick told the station that multiple police officers also went to the hospital after experiencing effects of smoke inhalation while at the scene.
Accounts of the initial dispatch time vary slightly. FOX 8 reported that firefighters were called to the house fire on the 2100 block of West Royalton Road before 9 p.m. Monday, while Cleveland 19 reported that fire crews were dispatched to the blaze at about 8 p.m.
Road Closed as Crews Worked Through the Night
By 4 a.m. Tuesday, the fire was out, though investigators remained at the scene, FOX 8 reported. West Royalton Road, also known as Route 82, was closed between Scottsdale Drive and Oakwood Drive as crews worked, per the WKYC report. The same FOX 8 account noted that West Royalton Road at Scottsdale Drive was blocked off to through traffic, with people asked to avoid the area to let crews work.
The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were not clear at the time of FOX 8's report. First responders from multiple area departments were believed to have deployed to the fire, according to the WKYC account, and Cleveland 19 similarly reported that several area fire departments were fighting the house fire in the 2100 block of Royalton Road.
Second Broadview Heights Fire in Recent Memory
Multiple-department responses to house fires are not unheard of in Broadview Heights. A separate overnight fire destroyed a house on Oakwood Trail in the city, with crews responding just after 1 a.m. on a Friday and firefighters from multiple departments called in to assist, according to Daily Dispatch. In that earlier fire, police believed everyone made it out of the house safely, though the cause had not been reported.
It remains unclear what sparked Monday night's fire on West Royalton Road or how extensive the damage to the home turned out to be. As of the latest reporting, authorities had not indicated how long it would take to fully clear the scene.
