CANTON, Ohio — Built on a hill, a house on Elgin Avenue NW in Canton is now burned beyond repair.
The man who lived there for more than 40 years, 74-year-old Steve Boger, lost nearly everything, including family heirlooms, photographs and his pet cat.
"I just loved this house. I had great dreams for it," Boger said. "I had hoped to live here my entire life and that's obviously not going to happen now."
Around 5:30 p.m. on June 28, fire crews, who were responding to a highway accident, diverted to the house fire after seeing smoke.
They found heavy fire on the front porch extending to the interior of the two-story century home.
Initially, it wasn't clear to rescue crews if Boger was inside the home.
Division Chief Steve Henderson said once firefighters got inside, they found a stubborn blaze and "hoarding conditions."
"We were doing a difficult search trying to get through the debris and the hoarding conditions trying to find out if there was an individual inside," Henderson said.
Henderson estimated firefighters spent 45 minutes rotating crews in and out of the burning structure, battling the flames, looking for Boger and moving stacks of stuff.
"It was probably stacked 4-feet-high through the house," Henderson said.
It turned out Boger was out to dinner and learned of the devastating fire when he came home.
"They just said it started on the porch and it very quickly swept through the house," Boger said.
Boger said he feels bad about the conditions firefighters faced.
I asked if he agreed that it was a hoarding situation, Boger told News 5, "It was pretty close to that, yeah. A lot of people call that hoarding. I call it collecting."
Boger said things were a mess in the home because a burglar broke in a few years ago and ransacked the place.
Due to health problems and multiple hospital stays, he struggled to clean it up.
Additionally, he collected a lot of items, including things from an antique store where he used to work. He was especially interested in pottery.
"I had at least, easily, 800 pieces of pottery," he said.
The flames also spread to Walter Lemon's home next door, melting a large section of his siding.
Lemon was watching TV when he heard sirens and then saw the fire.
"No sooner I open the door, and there was fire on his porch. I mean, it was blazing," Lemon said. "It's just something you wouldn't believe."
Both men have insurance and are relieved that they were not hurt and that firefighters were not injured.
"After being here so long and everything and then all of a sudden— you start looking at that and just before you know it— it's gone, just that quick," Lemon said.
The house cannot be saved. It will be torn down soon by the city's building department, Henderson said.
The cause of the fire has not been determined yet, but Henderson said more information could be released next week.
