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Published July 19, 2008 10:27 am - CONNEAUT — Three boys found a short distance from the scene of Thursday’s house fire on Old Mill Road have denied starting the blaze that caused a telephone blackout near the fire site, police said. Youths say they didn’t start fire Conneaut phone outage repaired By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com Star Beacon CONNEAUT — Three boys found a short distance from the scene of Thursday’s house fire on Old Mill Road have denied starting the blaze that caused a telephone blackout near the fire site, police said.
A woman who reported the fire around 1:30 p.m. also said she saw three boys riding bicycles away from the house, said Police Chief Jon Arcaro. Officers spoke with the boys, who said they saw smoke and wanted to check out the source, he said. “They denied any involvement,” Arcaro said. Fire consumed a vacant, two-story house and detached garage that had been slated for demolition. Three city firefighters succumbed to the day’s high heat and humidity. They were treated at UH Conneaut Medical Center and released. Flames destroyed a set of Conneaut Telephone Company lines strung near the house, interrupting telephone service to approximately 100 customers in the vicinity of the fire, said Ken Johnson, CTC general manager. Repair crews were sent to the scene shortly after the fire started, but their work was thwarted by heavy smoke, he said. Service was completely restored early Friday morning, Johnson said. Fiber optic cables hanging nearby, also owned by CTC, were heavily insulated and not affected by the fire, he said. Conneaut Fire Chief Bim Orrenmaa said the damage could have been avoided. Orrenmaa said he sent a memo to ex-city manager Douglas Lewis last year about the risk. “(Lewis) didn’t make it a priority,” he said. The house had been a city nuisance for years and slated for demolition once funding was available. Luciana Ratermann, Conneaut’s planning and zoning manager, rated the property number two on her August 2007 list of priority demolitions. The stubborn fire was still smoldering Friday morning, officials said. The home is believed to be owned by a company created by Gary Harris of Conneaut, now serving a prison sentence after a 2004 tax evasion and conspiracy conviction in federal court, officials said. 
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