Hunter's Ridge fire remembered

A year ago this weekend marks the worst fire, some emergency workers said, Toledo's seen in a decade.

A massive fire sparked by an errant firework wiped out half a dozen buildings at the Hunter's Ridge apartments in the city's south end.

Just after midnight on July 5, 2008, buildings were just totally destroyed. People's possessions, their pictures, and their family heritage just destroyed in these apartment buildings.

It was just terribly devastating for the people to have lost their homes.

It started out as a breezy, but calm night in South Toledo - and that's part of what made things so hard for firefighters, just hours after Fourth of July celebrations wrapped up.

But, the breeze wouldn't have been a problem, if someone -- a person that still hasn't been tracked down -- hadn't been lighting fireworks near the apartment buildings.

Neighbors saw it all happen.

"They witnessed the fireworks on that building, they witnessed the damage that was done to the apartment complex," said Toledo Fire Battalion Chief Christine Davis.

The damage was done when the flames kept spreading, moving faster down the lines of buildings. There were no firewalls to stop it. Emergency crews battled low water pressure and had the challenge of getting their equipment all the way to the back of the complex.

As crowds of residents watched, their homes burned. Others waitied to see if their building would be next.

Police evacuated dozens of residents through a mess of falling debris and water; a reminder of just how amazing it is that everyone made it out okay.

There were no fatalities.

Bat. Chief Davis hopes other people, the residents who didn't live through this, see the fire as proof that fireworks are dangerous, and you shouldn't be using them.

"Please, please don't buy fireworks," she said. "It's just better to let the pros run the fireworks and enjoy the show from a distance."

Bat. Chief Davis said that fireworks are illegal and, if her felle firefighters have to show up to a fireworks complaint, you're probably going to jail.