Landlord charged in Ada trailer fire

KENTON - A Feb. 17 jury trial has been set for the owner of an Ada rental trailer where five people died in a fire earlier this year.

Charles R. Sizemore, 57, of 714 W. Vine St., pleaded not guilty to five counts of reckless homicide, all third-degree felonies that each carries up to five years in prison. The trial is scheduled in Hardin County Common Pleas Court.

The fire that killed three children and two adults was ruled accidental because of an electrical problem, the Ohio Fire Marshal's Office reported. The trailer at 536 E. Lehr Ave. had no working smoke detectors.

The state fire marshal referred questions to the Hardin County Prosecutor's Office when asked why criminal charges were filed if the fire was ruled accidental.

"We are not the ones filing charges," fire marshal spokesman Shane Cartmill said.

Hardin County Prosecutor Brad Bailey declined comment.

Firefighters were called to the home at 4:30 a.m. April 4 to a trailer fire. When they arrived they found one end of the trailer engulfed and smoke through the trailer.

The fire killed Thomas J. Farkasdi, 39, and Shirley Farkasdi, 35, along with their three children, Jessica Farkasdi, 7, Tiffany Farkasdi, 6, and Jozsef Farkasdi, 4 months.

Fire officials said they believed the family had tried to escape because everyone but the infant was found out of bed. The father and one daughter were found in the hallway and the other three in two different rooms. The bedrooms were on the opposite end of where the fire began.

The family was unable to escape through the front door because of the fire, and the back door could not be opened because of expandable insulating foam that prevented it from being opened.

More than 90 percent of fatal residential fires during the past two years occur in homes without a working smoke detector, according to state fire marshal records.

After the fire, Ada police gave out free smoke detectors.