ELYRIA, Ohio — The Elyria Fire Department battled a house fire that broke out overnight on Parmely Avenue. Records show that the address where the fire happened is the exact location where a controversial police raid was executed earlier this month.
Firefighters arrived at the home in the 300 block of Parmely Avenue at approximately 3:25 a.m. on Friday and discovered "moderate fire conditions" in the exterior southeast corner of the house. All occupants were safely out of the home and uninjured.
The fire was quickly extinguished with damage estimated at $3,000.
The State Fire Marshal's office responded to the scene to take charge of the investigation. They found that the cause of the blaze was due to someone smoking in the house and discarding the cigarette outside a window.
On Jan. 10, Elyria police's Special Response Team (SRT) raided the same house in the 300 block of Parmely Avenue "as part of an ongoing investigation."
During the operation, police state they used two "flash-bang" devices outside of the house to divert the attention of people inside. Ring doorbell camera footage obtained by 3News shows officers shouting multiple times for anyone inside the home to come to the door before throwing the grenade, and the video goes dark.
Courtney Price was in the house at the time with her 17-month-old son, Waylon, and says smoke from the flash-bang devices entered the home and caused the toddler, who was on a ventilator, to be subjected to fumes. She added that the baby needed to be hospitalized with what she described as "burned eyes, burned chest, burned arm, burned neck" as well as a lack of oxygen. Elyria police strongly denied the toddler had been exposed to chemical irritants and asserted he had been given proper medical attention
Price further stated an officer told her his team had gone to the wrong house, something police also said wasn't true.
Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker has ordered a full review of the incident. Body camera footage from the raid was released earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Price and her family are back in the house following Friday morning's fire. They confirmed the information provided by the Elyria Fire Department to 3News' Lydia Esparra.
3News' Tyler Carey and Lydia Esparra contributed to this report
Previous Reporting:
- 'Pure negligence': Elyria landlord expresses anger over controversial police raid at her property
- City of Elyria releases bodycam video of controversial police raid family claims was conducted at wrong house
- Mother of Elyria toddler hospitalized after police set off flash-bangs at her home while executing warrant for past resident speaks out, and more