An 8-year-old boy died and three other family members were hospitalized after a fire at a home in Akron's Kenmore neighborhood early Thursday morning.
A firefighter at the scene also was injured and was taken to a hospital.
The fire happened after 4 a.m. at 2164 11th St. SW. The single family house is in a residential neighborhood just north of Kenmore Boulevard.
The boy was identified as David Johnson, a third grader at Leggett Community Learning Center. He was taken to the emergency department at Akron Children's Hospital shortly before 5 a.m. and pronounced dead at 5:17 a.m., according to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.
'Our hearts are heavy today'
Grief counselors were made available at Leggett on Thursday.
"Our hearts are heavy today over the passing of David Johnson," Principal Gregory Blondheim said in a statement. "David had been with us at Leggett since kindergarten. He was such a sweet boy (and he loved wearing different hats to school.)"
The school staff is offering "our love and support to his family in any way we can," he said. "Please join us in praying for this family."
The fire is being investigated. The fire department said it did not know what started the blaze.
The Akron Fire Department said three other people from the home were hospitalized, including two adults and an older child, who APS said is a student at Litchfield Community Learning Center. Their conditions were not immediately available.
Neighbor Penny Abel said three boys lived in the house, but the oldest child was not home at the time of the fire. The boys lived with their mother and grandfather, and their father lives nearby.
Abel said she came outside sometime after 4 a.m. when she heard screaming. Police arrived on the scene first, she said. Because the fire department wasn't there yet, neighbors ran out of their homes offering fire extinguishers, ladders and anything they thought could help.
Neighbor says mother tried to coax boy out of burning home
When firefighters arrived, Abel said the boys' mother told them her youngest son was still inside. The mother shouted into the house, "follow my voice, follow my voice," trying to coax her youngest son to a door or a window.
Flames were coming out of the windows on the side of the house opposite from Abel's, so she said she only saw smoke, but it was thick and black.
A firefighter removed David from the home, Abel said, but he was unconscious. Firefighters tried to revive him at the scene before taking him away in an ambulance, she said.
Abel had not yet heard the boy did not survive.
"Obviously, we were hoping for the best," she said through tears. She hoped David wasn't awake when the fire broke out and that he wasn't scared.
Neighbor recalls David Johnson's love of water
David had special needs, Abel said. He was a sweet boy who loved anything to do with water, she said. And if his mother wasn't looking, Abel said David would sneak over to the side of her house to play with her garden hose.
"He'd be over here with the hose pump, spraying everything," Abel said. "Spray the car, spray the fence, he just loved water."
The family loved taking in stray cats, she said, and was known to chase one down, wrap their arms around it and say, "Come here! Let me love you!"
The fire department has not provided an estimate of the damage to the house, but the area inside the front door was visibly charred and all of the two-story home's windows were knocked out as firefighters created vents for the smoke to escape.
Abel said the neighbors plan to gather whatever they can to support the family. They've rallied for each other before during tough times, she said.
Abel has set up up a GoFundMe for the family at https://tinyurl.com/4ycr7zjw .
"We hope we're just able to maybe help them and comfort them in some way," she said.
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