Cuyahoga Falls VFW Fire Caused by Lit Cigarette

Fire investigators have concluded that sparks from a lit cigarette, combined with Monday’s 30 mph winds, were the root causes of the at the .

No one knows who started the fire though, and as of now, the focus is centered on the clean-up effort, said David Zuk, the commander of VFW Post 1062.  

Zuk has hired a general contractor to remove the debris and salvageable items, but doesn’t yet know whether to renovate or completely reconstruct the 120-year-old building.

“Quite a bit of that building is fine,” said Chief Paul Moledor. “I would be surprised if they would rip the whole building down, but that’s totally up to the insurance company and business owner.”

Moledor said the total damage is estimated at $380,000.

While Zuk weighs his options, monthly meetings will be held at Akron's VFW Post 1070, located at 641 E. Tallmadge Rd., he said.

It took fire departments from Akron, , Cuyahoga Falls, Munroe Falls, , Hudson, , Tallmadge and Twinsburg to put out the fire, which burned for about four hours on Monday.

Moledor said the backup was needed due to the high winds, which were fanning the flames and blowing the fire horizontally through the building.

“It was a tough,” he said. “We had to put crews inside to push the fire back into the burned portions and protect the unburned side.”