Two Large Fires in Lakewood Keep Firefighters Busy

While two large fires in one night isn’t an unprecedented occurrence, it certainly isn’t typical either, said Lakewood Fire Chief Scott Gilman.

But that’s exactly what happened Saturday night and early Sunday morning. 

More than two-dozen firefighters from Lakewood and Rocky River battled an apartment fire at 14023 Madison Avenue at around 1 a.m. Sunday.

Traffic in both directions was shut down on Madison Avenue, as exhausted firefighters battled the blaze, believed to have started in a kitchen unit in the rear of the building. 

of the Lakewood Fire Department responded to a fire on the third and fourth floors of The Cynwyd apartment building on Clifton Boulevard. Eastbound traffic was closed for hours.

No one was injured in either blaze.

Police officers blocked traffic, as firefighters ran a hose from a hydrant on the north side of the street across all four lanes of Madison Avenue. A ladder truck was used to battle the blaze in the second-floor apartment.

“This one was worse than the other one,” said Gilman, wiping away sweat from his forehead. 

“The first one was hidden, this one was wide open,” he added. “This was a confined space, so not only was it structural but it had contents. The other one was structural but it stayed within the wall channels.”

The fire on Madison Avenue burned so hot that it melted the mini-blinds several apartment units to the west.

Evacuated residents in pajamas and neighboring bar patrons huddled together on the sidewalk as firefighters worked into the early morning.

Gilman added he hoped there wouldn’t be any additional fires during the night. 

“It happens sometimes… I’ve seen more,” he said. “Sleep is overrated.”

The cause of both fires is under investigation.