Person:Frank Baker (38)

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FIRE KILLS MAN, DESTROYS HOME LACK OF HYDRANTS HAMPERS FIREFIGHTERS ==================================================

A Kirtland man who was grief-stricken over the recent death of his wife was killed yesterday in a fire that destroyed his turn-of-the-century Wisner Rd. house.

Frank J. Baker was pulled from the house about 10 minutes after Kirtland firefighters arrived on the scene about 1 p.m.

Firefighters found Baker lying face down on the floor about 6 feet from a side door, said Kirtland Police Chief Dennis T. Yarborough. Investigators remained at the home late last night trying to determine the cause of the fire.

Lake County Coroner William C. Downing said he planned to conduct an autopsy today. Downing said Baker suffered extensive burns and probably died from the burns, smoke inhalation or both.

Baker's stepdaughter, Becki Armington, who watched flames shooting from the roof of her childhood home, said her stepfather was in his late 60s and in poor health.

Kirtland Fire Chief Richard A. Martincic said it took three hours to get the blaze under control. The Chardon, Willoughby Hills and Chester Township fire departments also helped.

"The fire was everywhere when we got here," Martincic said. "It was on all of the sides and coming through the roof. It took us a little time to set up our tanker to deliver water to the scene."

Because there are no fire hydrants near the property, firefighters had to set up a water shuttle in which they drove a tanker truck to a hydrant on Chardon Rd., filled the tanker with water, drove back to the fire and deposited the water.

"Twenty percent of the city doesn't have fire hydrants," Martincic said. "It makes it a little more difficult."

Firefighters also kept a stream of water on a 2,000-gallon tank of diesel fuel that sits within a few feet of the back of the house.

Neighbor Russell Dieterich, who had known the Bakers for more than 30 years, discovered the fire when he saw smoke coming out of the chimney.

"I tried to get in to pull Baker out," Dieterich said. "But it was just too hot."

Dieterich said that one of the last times he saw Baker, he "was grieving badly and crying because of the loss of his wife."

The Wisner Rd. house was part of the late Elizabeth A. Baker's 21-acre estate, which also included two smaller houses, three barns, two poultry houses, two garages, a pool, a tennis court and several sheds.

The burned house was a 4,175-square-foot Colonial built in 1912. The smaller houses are a 1,150-square-foot Colonial built in 1947 and a 1,775-square-foot Colonial built in 1915.

Lake County records show the property's market value at $382,000. But the will of Elizabeth Baker, who died in November following an illness, placed the value at more than $410,000, according to Lake County Probate Court records.

Becki Armington said the fire destroyed many family heirlooms.

"What's sad is everything is gone ..." said the 40-year-old Concord Township woman. "There were a lot of antiques in the house. We didn't have a chance to get them out. Any of our family remembrances are gone."

Armington said her brother, Arthur Armington III, lived in the house with Baker.

She said she had not seen her stepfather since her mother's funeral.

"I wasn't that close to him," Armington said. "... I stayed away pretty much until my mom was sick and she needed rides places."

Armington said her mother met Baker more than 30 years ago when Baker worked for the family on 2,000 acres the family owns near Geneva. The couple married and raised Armington, her siblings and the Bakers' daughter, Molly W. Patel, who also lives in one of the houses on the property.

The Armington family is one of Lake County's most affluent, tracing its roots to the Euclid Road Machinery Co., a maker of internationally recognized, massive, lime-green earth-moving trucks and tractors.

Source: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)-January 31, 1996, Author: APRIL McCLELLAN-COPELAND PLAIN DEALER REPORTER

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FAMILY HEIRLOOMS SALVAGED FROM FIRE CIGARETTE ASH May HAVE CAUSED BLAZE ==================================================

Historical papers and books, including diaries dating to the Mayflower, have been saved from the ruins of a Kirtland house fire.

Document-restoring specialists retrieved hundreds of books, pictures, papers, logs and ledgers, which recorded family history.

The Tuesday fire killed Frank Baker, 73, who died while trying to escape flames that started sometime after noon in his office. Investigators say they believe ashes from Baker's cigarette ignited a couch cushion.

But Lt. Doug Bode of the Kirtland Fire Department said salvaging the centuries-old family heirlooms helped ease a little of the tragedy.

Firefighters recognized the significance of a hallway filled with cabinets, and kept away flames, Bode said. At one point, with the fire under control, several firefighters; Molly W. Patel, Frank's daughter; and her husband made several trips into the hall to remove the most valuable items, Bode said.

Some of the books included diaries from the Mayflower and logs from the Revolutionary War, Bode said.

"It gave her a little silver lining to this tragedy," Bode said.

The fire caused $250,000 damage to the house. But the loss of contents has not been calculated, Fire Chief Richard Martincic said.

The home's construction, lack of accessible water, a hill behind the house and cold weather all hindered firefighting, said Kirtland fire investigator William Crowley. Crews stayed on the scene until about 10 p.m., more than nine hours after it had been reported.

Restorx, the world's largest restorer of damaged property, was called to the scene about midnight, said Kevin R. Mann, an owner of the Pittsburgh-based company. About nine employees worked until about 6 a.m., packaging and removing material.

The Wisner Rd. home, with the main section dating to 1912, was filled with what Bode said had been characterized as museum-quality antiques. The house sat on a 21-acre estate with two smaller homes and several other buildings across the east branch of the Chagrin River.

The house included an above-ground, 1950s-era bomb shelter. Inside were hundreds of medical and law books, a collection of National Geographic magazines and a walk-in refrigerator holding antique trains, Bode said.

Frank Baker had been married to the late Elizabeth Allen, who traced her family to the Mayflower, said her daughter, Rebecca Armington. Elizabeth Allen had previously been married to Arthur Armington II, whose family had founded the Euclid Road Machinery Co., the maker of internationally recognized earth-moving vehicles.

Baker's wife died three months ago of a stroke after a series of medical problems. Friends and authorities said Baker had been in deep grief since his wife died and recently had isolated himself in his house.

Investigators said that Baker, a chain smoker, caught a couch cushion in his office on fire, probably from ashes falling from a cigarette.

Lake County Coroner William Downing confirmed that Baker had been alive after the fire started. An autopsy showed Baker had soot in his lungs. He died of extensive burns and smoke inhalation.

Baker spent a lot of time in that room, especially sitting in an overstuffed easy chair where he would read. He enjoyed war books, relatives said.

"I loved to talk to the man," said his next-door neighbor, Russell Dieterich.

Baker had been a technical sergeant in the Air Force during World War II. He had been an upper-turret gunner and a radio operator on B-24 and B-17 bombers, flying 52 missions into Germany during the war.

A retired carpenter, Baker also loved to paint, draw and carve wood.

Source: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)-February 1, 1996, Author: JOHN C. KUEHNER PLAIN DEALER REPORTER

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