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	7 South Toledo Buildings in Flames Clerical Abuse Activist's Home Is 1st to Catch Fire By Christina Hall atchall@theblade.com Toledo Blade September 7, 2005 Dawn Hairabedian wept yesterday as she watched the South Toledo multiunit residence she lived in burn along with six neighboring houses. "I don't have nothing left," the 41-year-old woman said as water and ash sprinkled down on her in the 2400 block of Broadway. Another half-dozen houses across the street and several city fire trucks sustained heat damage from a three-alarm blaze that fire authorities said began in the rear of a residence occupied by Claudia Vercellotti, local co-coordinator of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. The fire started in the rear of her 2425 Broadway home. She was not home, and the cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation, Fire Investigator Andre Tiggs said. He didn't know if the fire began inside or outside Ms. Vercellotti's residence, which is in the same building as Ms. Hairabedian's. Mr. Tiggs said a city worker saw smoke at the rear of the building and called 911 about 2:15 p.m. Arriving firefighters found the five-unit building and neighboring houses engulfed in flames. Ms. Hairabedian's son, Anthony, was home with his 3-year-old daughter, Madison Kassem, when a passerby notified him that they saw smoke. He grabbed his daughter and they fled. Mr. Hairabedian said he had smelled smoke about two hours earlier, but didn't think anything of it. Ms. Vercellotti said she left home about 1:30 p.m. and didn't see or hear anything unusual. No fire alarms were sounding. "I lost everything. I'm not worried about the couches or the TVs or the microwave," she said while crying. "But every bit of the research I've done on clerical sexual abuse is gone." Chief Mike Bell said three city firefighters were treated at local hospitals for heat exhaustion and dehydration. Damage could be up to $1 million, he said. Chief Bell said of the seven burned buildings on the Maumee River side of Broadway, six burned down or will be razed. The Greater Toledo Chapter of the American Red Cross is helping 13 displaced people with food and clothing. Some are getting shelter from the Red Cross, while others are staying with family or friends, spokesman Kristen Cajka said. Intense heat and wind coming off the river made firefighting conditions very difficult and caused emblems on the fire rigs to melt and reflective tape to scorch, the chief said. "It was a bit of a blowtorch," said Chief Bell, who called the fire one of the worst he's seen. Gordon Capshaw was just a few houses away when he came out and watched the orange inferno make its way to his house at 2415 Broadway. "[The wind] was blowing like hell off the river," he said. Authorities told dozens of victims and onlookers standing across the street, on nearby railroad tracks, and a nearby viaduct to move away when electrical lines sparked and popped. Chief Bell said power to the area was shut off. Joan Sprow watched firefighters on ladder trucks hose down the side of her 110-year-old house at 2431 Broadway, which stood unscathed except for some melted siding. Others weren't so lucky. "There's just chimney standing. That's terrible," said nearby resident Rhonda Vandenberg as she stood behind houses situated across from the blaze. Affected residents mourned the loss of irreplacable items, such as antiques and keepsakes from parents. Some worried about their pets that were left behind or their vehicles parked close to the buildings. Thomas Westgate, 20, of South Toledo said he and a friend helped a woman move exotic birds from her home before it caught fire. Matt Wagner, 22, who lived in the building where the fire started, was running errands for less than a half-hour. He returned home before firefighters arrived and wanted to run inside to retrieve two cats. When he saw flames shoot out the windows, he decided not to go in. "Our house is nonexistent," he said. Contact Christina Hall atchall@theblade.com or 419-724-6007.