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Large fire breaks out in north Toledo warehouse

Smoke covered a neighborhood near East Bancroft and Elm streets as firefighters battled a fire in a vacant warehouse on Sunday afternoon.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Smoke filled the air across much of north Toledo on Sunday afternoon after a large fire broke out in the back of a long abandoned building.

The fire started just before 4 p.m. in the rear section of a complex of buildings near the intersection of Eeast Bancroft and Elm streets.

Toledo Fire and Rescue said they took a defensive position to prevent the fire from spreading.

TFD said two or three commercial structures in the complex caught fire, primarily a one story section of the warehouse in the back of the complex. 

No injuries to firefighters or civilians were reported.

TFD said the two-alarm fire saw at least 25 firefighters battling the fire throughout the late afternoon and into the evening.

Dense smoke that covered the neighborhood began to lessen as the evening went on and residents were told it was safe to return to their homes by 5:30 p.m.

In 2009, the body of a 20-year-old woman, Cindy Sumner, was found in the basement of the Elm Street building that is connected to the warehouse that caught fire Sunday.

That building was the former home of Premier Bedding. 

For years, Sumner’s mother had tried to get the city to tear the building down with little success.

In January 2022 however, the City of Toledo announced that the building would finally be torn down.

The Lucas County Land Bank took ownership of the building from state forfeiture in October 2021 

The man police believe killed Cindy Sumner, Elhadi Robbins, died in jail. He was never convicted.

Sunday's fire remains under investigation.

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