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Mayor, fire chief praise firefighters after Cedar Lee construction-site blaze
Summary
University Heights leaders lauded a multiagency response to the Jan. 24–25 Marquis Apartments construction fire in Cleveland Heights, noting no injuries, heavy mutual-aid support and operational challenges from single-digit temperatures and frozen equipment.
Mayor Brennan and the University Heights Fire Department praised the multiagency response after a Jan. 24–25 fire at the Marquis Apartments construction site in the Cedar Lee district of Cleveland Heights.
Mayor Brennan said the $60 million project was "a tragic loss of property" but emphasized that no lives were lost because the building was still under construction and empty. He credited investment in the fire department since 2018, including new training and a new ladder truck, for the city's ability to support neighboring departments during the incident.
"We were fortunate that the building was under construction and empty and no lives were lost," Mayor Brennan said. He also noted that when he became mayor in 2018 the department "would not have been able to help like we did last month" until resources were restored.
Fire Chief Robert Perko thanked mutual-aid partners and described extreme operational challenges at the scene: limited access, active construction hazards, single-digit weather that froze equipment and radios, and heavy exposures to adjacent businesses and Heights High School. He said roughly 40 companies responded, including nine ladder trucks, eight engines and a fuel truck support rotation.
Chief Perko said ladder-truck telemetry estimated that one ladder alone "flowed 600,000 gallons of water" during the incident, and that crews worked in shifts for more than 20 hours with rotations to allow personnel to thaw and recover. "To say they were frozen was an understatement," he said, describing ice encrusted on gear and frozen controls.
Both the mayor and the chief singled out regional cooperation — including support from Cleveland, Shaker Heights, South Euclid and other Heights-area departments — as decisive in preventing the fire from spreading to nearby businesses, the Cedar Lee Theater and residential neighborhoods. Mayor Brennan added that the developer, Flaherty & Collins, is expected to rebuild the lost project.
No injuries were reported to responding personnel or to the public. The mayor and council members thanked firefighters and local businesses that supported responders on scene.
