Toledo police pulled an unconscious woman from a South Toledo residence that was on fire Sunday morning.
Officers responded to a residence in the 400 block of Spencer Street shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, according to a police report. The first floor of the residence was engulfed in flames, police reported.
Neighbors, Johnnie Lawhorn, Jr., and Patrick Bensman, Jr., told police the home was occupied. Together, the neighbors and the officers broke through a plywood-covered door and pulled Ashley Westfall from the residence. She was located at the top of the basement steps, according to a report.
Ms. Westfall, 27, was unconscious, but began breathing again once she was taken from the residence, according to police.
Two others in a different part of the residence, Ronald Williamson III, 34, and Walter Lanham, 5, were injured.
All were taking to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, but were not listed as patients as of Monday afternoon, according to a hospital spokesman.
Mr. Williamson’s wife, Stacey Kennedy, and two other children were not injured. Ms. Kennedy told police she was sleeping when she woke up to fire, according to the police report.
Investigators believe the fire was accidental and was started by a space heater located in a front room, Toledo Fire Department spokesman Pvt. Sterling Rahe said.
The home is a total loss, and the Red Cross is assisting the families, Private Rahe said.
The fire department reminds people to keep space heaters on solid, flat surfaces, at least 3 feet from flammable objects, and plugged directly into wall outlets, not extension cords. People should buy heaters approved by qualified testing laboratories, and equipped with thermostats and overheat protection mechanisms.
Contact Allison Reamer at areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506 or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade.
First Published November 27, 2017, 3:15 p.m.
