Heres the story actually, Quoted from the News Herald of NE Ohio.
Firefighter helps save parents' house
Kirtland firefighter Tim Parks recognized the address the moment the call came in Wednesday - 8732 Billings Road. His parents' house was burning.
His father, Wayne Parks, was cleaning a wood stove in the kitchen when some embers spilled to the floor about 1:45 p.m. He ran to the basement to grab a hose. When he returned, the fire had spread too quickly for him to douse it, he told firefighters.
"I just hoped everyone was safe," Tim Parks said.
Wayne escaped outside, and his wife, Betty Parks, was working at Willo-Hill Christian School when the fire started. Firefighters arrived quickly, but white smoke already was pouring from the rear of the house and its eaves.
The burning farmhouse was 160 years old, family members said. It is the house that 82-year-old Wayne Parks was raised in. It is the original farmhouse from 1860, when the Parks family operated a 150-acre farm in Kirtland. Several family members still live on that former lot, including Tim Parks.
Because it was an older home, it had more open space behind walls, and the fire spread quickly through them.
"It's called balloon construction," Kirtland Fire Chief Tony Hutton said. "In some houses like this, you'll have a void space that goes from the basement to the attic."
Balloon construction is rarely used in modern houses, mostly because it is so expensive. But in an older home like the Parks' farmhouse, it allowed the fire to spread to the attic before firefighters arrived.
Firefighters from Kirtland, Willoughby, Willoughby Hills, Mentor, Wickliffe, Willowick, Chardon and Chester responded to the fire. It took more than an hour to squelch the flames, but they were able to salvage the house and some of the personal effects inside.
Most of the important paperwork sustained only smoke damage, and some of the family's personal belongings were protected by a fire safe, Tim Parks said. The firefighters worked so quickly, they were able to save a stack of cash in the kitchen. Only the top bill was charred, he said.
It will be up to the family and insurance company whether they want to rebuild the home. While most of it is structurally sound, it suffered a lot of damage during the fire, Tim Parks said.
After the fire, the family had not yet decided where Wayne and Betty Parks would spend the night. Tim Parks said they would first make certain they had enough clothes and other necessities.
Tim said his parents were doing as well as could be hoped.
"Tomorrow will be when it sets in," he said.
