OLD SAYBROOK - On Friday evening, a wind-whipped fire incinerated two beachfront homes and left others damaged.
"You don’t know what you’re ultimately going to get with this wind and what was going to keep burning," said J.T. Dunn of the Old Saybrook Fire Department. "You don’t know where the fires gonna stop."
The fire began just before 4:00 pm at 29 Beach Road West in Old Saybrook. A woman and her two dogs escaped from the home unharmed.
In the morning light, a drone's-eye-view shows the devastation to the two homes - and the narrow escape of others, thanks to the efforts of firefighters from five towns. The wind created dangerous conditions for the first responders, who brought in water tankers, a fireboat, and ran waterlines nearly a mile to bring in enough water to contain the flames.
"Because the wind was blowing the other way that kind of saved my house," said Ty Dimeo.
Despite the heavy loss of property, fortunately there were no injuries. Homeowners are now tasked with the prospect of rebuilding their homes and lives, and investigators are trying to find the cause of the fire.
