HARTFORD, Conn. — Four people were taken to the hospital after a 2-alarm fire at an apartment building at 820 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford. The fire broke out around 6:30 p.m. The second alarm was struck immediately upon arrival.
Fire officials said six people needed to be rescued from the building. Some people were helped out by two good Samaritans who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
"We heard a loud alarm, boom! go off and we just ran over there and we just started bringing people out," said Dario Pezic of Wethersfield. "Before the fire department came we helped some of the officers bring people out," he said.
He and Haris Ahmetovic were right down the street when the fire broke out.
"We were basically the first ones on the scene. I was actually the one that called 911 first. We saw a lot of smoke, dark smoke," Ahmetovic said.
Residents of the building also helped each other get out safely.
"Some people were stuck on the first floor still so I had to go back inside to help the person too," said Jose Leon.
Fire officials said several people called 911 saying they needed help getting out of the building.
"That first and foremost was our priority to get to those people and get them out of the building because we did have heavy smoke condition and at the time of arrival weren't sure exactly how many apartments were on fire," said Deputy Chief Kenneth Kowal.
Officials said the fire started on the first floor of the building, but did extend to the second floor, and caused damage to other areas as well.
"There was a fire in the first-floor apartment towards the front of the building heavy fire damage in that unit the fire extended into the hallway but no fire damage significantly to any of the other units at this time," said Deputy Chief Adam Guertin.
It is not clear when residents will be able to return home. The fire marshal is now investigating the cause of the fire.
This same apartment building was the scene of a major fire in March of 2019 which injured ten people. That fire was determined to be arson, and a woman was arrested and convicted for the crime.
This is a developing story - we'll have more information as it becomes available, and a live report on the FOX61 News at 10.
Thanks.
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.