EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – An East Cleveland family is devastated after losing everything they owned in a house fire.

Today, they worry about how firefighters responded and wonder if their equipment is working properly.

The fire broke out at a home on Farmington Road on October 28.

Ashely Tucker, who owns the home with her husband Jeremy, says she was home with her 4-year-old son Jackson when she started hearing her smoke alarms.

She walked into the house and all she could see was smoke and flames.

She said she quickly called 911 and waited for help.

“It was 1:22 p.m. when I first called. I had to call a second time because it was about nine minutes before they arrived,” Tucker says.

Tucker recorded video showing smoke billowing from his home. She said it felt like she was waiting forever for the engine to arrive.

“I sat and looked at the house on fire for 25 minutes,” Tucker said. “It wasn’t going quickly. It’s like you can imagine “Put on, put on, put on.” It was catching on, but it wasn’t, ‘We have to get in there and go.’

According to East Cleveland Fire Marshal Thomas Boothe, the fire was started at 1:23 p.m. and crews were dispatched a minute later.

He said they arrived on scene at 1:27 p.m. and a second alarm was sounded at 1:31 p.m.

19 News has previously reported on ongoing problems with the East Cleveland Fire Department’s equipment.

An anonymous source told us that sometimes the fire truck physically cannot go faster than 10 MPH due to the condition of the truck.

However, that wasn’t Tucker’s only concern.

“Personally, I didn’t see any garden hoses connected to the truck and the water was spraying out the front of the truck,” Tucker said.

She says after another ten minutes, services from other towns arrived to help her.

“University Heights came in with their ladder truck, with their garden hoses, and they put the fire out from the back,” Tucker said.

While 19 News spoke with Ashley and Jeremy, Fire Marshal Thomas Boothe and East Cleveland Fire Chief David Worley introduced themselves.

They told 19 News the mayor sent them to the Tucker home.

According to Chief Worley, it took crews 45 minutes to bring the fire under control, an acceptable time frame.

“For a house to be fully involved – meaning first, second and third floors – and to come in and launch an attack, that’s good. Especially since we had to call on mutual aid,” explains Chief Worley.

Worley disputes how long it took firefighters to show up. He says it only took four minutes.

“We had several crews on other calls when this call came in. We didn’t have our usual onslaught of guys coming in,” says Chief Worley.

Tucker also raised concerns about fire hydrants and the amount of water firefighters had access to.

“A fire investigator came later that day and he opened this fire hydrant for us and there was no water,” Tucker said.

Chief Worley says crews were able to connect hoses to the fire hydrant and get water to put out the fire.

“If the hydrant wasn’t working, we wouldn’t have been able to pump water. This is precisely why we were able to pump water. We get four handlines out of it,” says Chef Worley.

Chief Worley said mutual aid was a big help in fighting this fire. He says Cleveland Heights, Cleveland, Mayfield and University Heights all showed up to help.

“I can never thank the support enough. These guys showed up immediately and didn’t hesitate. Hats off to them and their leaders,” says Chef Worley.

Fire Commissioner Thomas Boothe told 19 News one of the fire trucks did have a water leak, but that truck was not on scene the day of the fire.

Tucker says she has seen firsthand the problems with equipment used by the East Cleveland Fire Department.

She said she was lucky she was able to get out of the house and no one was hurt.

She also says she doesn’t want this to happen to any other family in the future.

“They failed us, I feel like I failed. We failed,” says Tucker.

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