The Brecksville service garage that caught fire in February had no smoke detectors; four urban vehicles were destroyed

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio – The city service garage did not contain a smoke detector when a fire broke out there in February, according to an investigation and report by the Ohio Division of Fire Marshal.

The fire destroyed four city vehicles, including a sweeper in which the fire broke out, and damaged the building and roof. Damage to the vehicles and building is estimated at $638,460, city officials said.

Although firefighters traced the origin of the fire, they were unable to determine how it started in the sweeper, although they were “unable to eliminate the systems vehicle as a possible heat source for this fire.

The report says the fire was accidental. No one was hurt.

“It’s unclear why the previous administration (of Mayor Jerry Hruby) did not install a smoke detector system (in the service garage),” Mayor Daryl Kingston told cleveland.com on Monday.

Kingston was first elected mayor in November and took office in January. He replaced Hruby, who did not seek re-election after serving as mayor since 1988.

“The city council will approve the fire detection systems (for the service garage) next Tuesday (June 18),” Kingston said.

The fire alarm systems, manufactured by Silco Fire & Security in Cleveland, would cost the city $35,100. Systems would be provided for both the vehicle maintenance building on Brecksville Road, just north of City Hall, and a vehicle maintenance shop on Oakes Road.

The fire marshal’s report said five city vehicles were damaged in the fire, but city officials said only four were total losses. Of the four, the city has already replaced the 2010 street sweeper, as well as a 2003 International Harvester tractor and a 2016 Hamm roller, used to compact asphalt.

Two other vehicles, a 2009 Ford station wagon and a 2015 Ford F-350 pickup truck, were also damaged in the fire, according to the fire marshal’s report.

It was not clear which one – the station wagon or the van – had been destroyed and which had only been damaged, or even whether the fire marshal and city officials had agreed on the number of vehicles damaged and/or or destroyed.

Kingston said the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District awarded the city $327,349 to help pay for replacement vehicles.

The city has not yet repaired the building where the fire broke out or the roof. Kingston said plans for those repairs were being prepared.

In May, the council approved hiring DSC Architects in Berea for $32,700 to design the reconstruction of the fire-damaged section of the service garage.

At the time, service director Joe Kickel said the vehicle maintenance section of the service garage was “about 95 percent operational.”

The fire at the city’s Department of Services garage occurred around 10:15 p.m. on February 25. Firefighters from Brecksville, Broadview Heights, Independence, Richfield and Macedonia, along with Brecksville police and departments, responded.

Firefighters encountered “intense fire conditions” in and/or near the mechanics’ premises. The fire was quickly brought under control and contained to the area where it broke out, municipal authorities said.

“Flames and smoke were visible from inside the garage where several maintenance department vehicles were stored,” states the fire marshal’s report. “The fire severely damaged the building and vehicles inside the building.”

Fire and smoke damaged five garage doors in the service building. The fire, after breaking out in the sweeper, spread to other vehicles and throughout the building.

“Patterns of fire intensity were noted between the cab and body of the sweeper, where several vehicle systems were located,” the fire marshal’s report states.

The most significant fire damage was found where the sweeper’s brushes and brush controls were located.

The fire marshal’s report states that the street sweeper was parked in the service garage the day before the fire because it was scheduled to have its oil filter serviced. Maintenance was carried out before the fire.

“(City) employees found no indication of heat or failure during maintenance procedures,” the report states.

However, Kingston said the sweeper was parked in the garage two days before the fire and maintenance was never performed on the vehicle.

“The hydraulic elevator located under the sweeper was in the off position and not in use at the time of the fire,” the fire marshal’s report states.

Neither the sweeper nor any of its parts have been recalled by the manufacturer or the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, according to the report.

In 2022, city officials announced plans to build a new service garage instead of renovating the existing one, although they said the project would be more likely several years away.

The city had hired Berea-based Makovich & Pusti Architects to study whether the service garage, built in the mid-1950s, was worth renovating, or whether tearing it down and rebuilding was a better option.

Makovich & Pusti, in its final report, said that while initial construction costs were the city’s most important priority, a renovation was the best option. However, in the long run, a new building would save the city significantly on maintenance costs.

The reconstruction project was estimated at $5 million. By comparison, a renovation of the existing garage would cost about $3.4 million, a difference of about $1.6 million, according to the Makovich & Pusti report.

“There are no plans to replace any buildings in the service complex in the distant future,” Kingston said Monday.