Investigators say the blaze started near living quarters before the building collapsed.
JEFFERSON, Ohio — A woman and two young children were killed and three other people were injured when a fire ripped through an old barn that had been converted into apartments Friday morning in Ashtabula County, officials said. Fire crews arrived to heavy flames and were forced into a defensive fight as the building quickly collapsed.
The deaths and injuries in the rural area east of Cleveland set off a multi-agency investigation and a community fundraising push as officials worked to confirm identities and track how the fire moved so quickly through the structure. The Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause and origin, while the county coroner’s office is handling official identification. Local fire officials said the layout of the building and a limited water supply complicated rescue attempts during the early stages of the response.
Emergency calls reporting a structure fire came in about 7:30 a.m. Fri., Feb. 6, from the 2100 block of Jefferson-Eagleville Road in Austinburg Township, according to Austinburg Township Fire Chief Bill Welms. By the time the first crews reached the property, the barn was already engulfed, with flames pushing out of windows and under the roofline. “We had fire coming out of every window and the eaves,” Welms said. The barn, described by officials as older construction that had been partially turned into apartments, burned aggressively as firefighters positioned lines and tried to slow the spread while keeping crews back from the most dangerous areas.
Welms said three people who were inside when the fire started managed to get out and were treated for smoke inhalation. Three others did not escape. The chief said a woman and two children were trapped as the fire intensified and the building gave way. “The whole building collapsed,” Welms said. The victims were recovered hours later after crews shifted from active firefighting to a careful search of unstable debris. The Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office had not released the victims’ names Friday night, but relatives later identified the three who died as 24-year-old Joline Cooper and her children, Atreus Kershaw, 3, and Celeste Kershaw, 5.
Fire officials said the property’s rural setting created immediate logistical hurdles. Welms said the area does not have fire hydrants, requiring crews to call for tanker trucks to shuttle water and to bring in additional departments for mutual aid. He estimated roughly 10 other departments responded as the scale of the fire became clear and water demand surged. The strategy remained defensive because of the heat, the speed of the fire, and the risk of collapse, officials said. Welms described the effort as surrounding the structure and pouring water onto it as safely as possible while watching parts of the building fail.
Investigators believe the fire began in the area that contained the apartments and then spread to the rest of the barn, Welms said. The state fire marshal’s investigators are expected to examine electrical and heating components, possible ignition sources, and the way fire moved through renovated areas and older barn sections, officials said. Authorities have not announced a cause, and officials cautioned that determining an origin point can take time when a structure collapses and evidence is buried under charred debris. The coroner’s office and fire investigators also will review witness accounts and any available building records as part of the inquiry.
The deaths left relatives and neighbors searching for answers as the small community absorbed the loss. A family member, Marsha Cooper, identified the victims and said the woman was trapped upstairs with the children as smoke and flames spread. “Right now, I’m so broken,” she said, adding that she was trying to remain strong for her family. Online fundraising efforts were launched to help with funeral costs and immediate needs, and local officials said community members had already started asking how they could support the surviving relatives and the three people who escaped but were injured.
Officials said the next steps include finalizing official identifications, completing autopsies, and issuing a formal cause-and-origin report once investigators finish scene work and lab testing. The state fire marshal’s office is expected to continue interviews and evidence review in the coming days, and local fire officials said they will evaluate the response for lessons learned, including water supply and access on rural roads. Any determination of code or safety issues would depend on investigative findings and local jurisdiction, officials said, and no enforcement action had been announced as of the weekend following the fire.
As of Monday, investigators had not released a cause for the fire, and officials said the timeline for a final report would depend on evidence recovered from the collapsed structure. The next major milestone will be the fire marshal’s preliminary findings and the coroner’s official identification release.
Author note: Last updated February 10, 2026.