Seahawks DE Frank Clark says father, other family members died in fire

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark announced shortly after the start of Super Bowl LII that four of his family members, including his father, had died in a fire in eastern Cleveland.

According to fire officials, the blaze began around 1:00 a.m. on a Tuesday morning at a home on Hillview Avenue in the Collinwood area, north of Euclid. The victims included a 46-year-old man, his three-year-old son, an eight-year-old granddaughter, and a 44-year-old nephew. One female relative managed to escape the fire by jumping from a second-story window.

Cleveland Fire Department spokesman Mike Norman stated that although the home did have smoke detectors, they were not functioning at the time. It took 38 firefighters approximately 90 minutes to extinguish the extra-alarm blaze. The cause of the fire remained under investigation, with officials noting that pervasive damage to the structure prevented them from immediately identifying the origin.

The Seahawks organization released a statement expressing condolences to Clark and his family. Clark was drafted by Seattle in the second round of the 2015 draft. During the season, he recorded 32 tackles and nine sacks, bringing his career totals to 95 tackles and 22 sacks over his three years with the franchise.