MIDDLETOWN -- Four people, including a firefighter, suffered minor injuries in a fire that broke out in 824 unit section of the Northwoods Apartments East in Middletown Thursday morning.
One resident said she was asleep until her dad awakened her after he heard cries of fire.
“I was trying to get my cat out,” said Madiha Shafqat. “But, she went under the bed. So we didn’t know what to do. So we just had to leave our back door open and then we had to get out.”
And, as her dad tried to run back in to find the cat, he fell on the ice, becoming one of three residents injured.
“One, we think, had possibly a broken wrist from a fall and then two other ones from some smoke at inhalation,” said Chief Michael Howley of the
Middletown Fire Department’s South District.
Weather was a factor for firefighters, too.
“It was very difficult,” Howley Saud. “The driveways were ice. The sidewalks were ice, the stairs. It was very difficult maneuvering with the hoses.”
One dog did not make it out of the fire alive, but the Chief said the firefighters were able to rescue nearly a dozen animals, including dogs, cats and birds. One resident said today’s fire was especially unbelievable to her.
“This is my second house fire like that in an apartment building by the way, which is crazy too,” said Jennifer Ijeh.
The previous one a couple of years ago in Meriden. That was a total loss.
“I’m assuming this one’s pretty much done, so, I don’t know where we’re going to go from here,” she said.
The Red Cross and the Middletown Health Department have worked to find the displaced residents accommodations.