Harpster, Ohio Apartment Fire Kills Three Young Adults

Feb. 06--HARPSTER, Ohio -- Authorities have identified three young adults killed in an early-morning apartment fire in Wyandot Count today.

Sheriff Mike Hetzel said the three were: Zenan T. R. Wample, 18; James L. Gatchell. 20, and Lauren A. Vinson. 19. All three lived in Apartment B on the second floor. Wyandot County Coroner Dr. Joseph Sberna said all three died from smoke inhalation.

The fire gutted the building at 7223 Wyandot St. in Harpster, a community of about 200 people south of Upper Sandusky and about 60 miles north of Columbus.

The second story of the brick building had been converted to two apartments over vacant storefronts. It appears the fire started in the apartment on the east side of the building, where the three people died, Hetzel said.

Investigators from the state fire marshal's office were on scene all day.

The sheriff's office got its first 911 call from a cell phone at 2:56 a.m. from a man inside the east side apartment. Two minutes later, Jessica Messmer, 32, called from her west-side apartment and said she and her three young kids were trying to get out.

They made it, Hetzel said, adding that the children are 3, 9 and 11 years old. In all, six people made it out alive. Jasin C. Wample, 21, who was one of the people who escaped, was in St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo where he was being treated for burns and injuries after falling out a second floor window.

One man, however, had to jump from a second-story window. He was flown by a medical helicopter to St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo with burns. His name and condition also were not available.

Todd James, executive director of the American Red Cross of Hancock and Wyandot counties said volunteers arranged for hot meals and food, clothing and shelter for the survivors who lost all of their belongings. He said counseling services will also be available to families of the victims as well as the firefighters and deputies on the scene.

"We're such a small town, everyone is going to be effected by a tragedy like this," James said.

The building is across the street from the Pitt Township Volunteer Fire Department, and firefighters arrived at the station within minutes of being notified. Flames were shooting out of the windows when they arrived.

There are no fire hydrants nearby; water had to be trucked in.

Dispatch reporter Jim Woods contributed to this report.