HARTFORD, Conn. — Two people were rescued after a fire broke out at a storefront in Hartford early Thursday morning.
Fire officials said a call reporting the fire came in around 2:40 a.m. at a storefront on Franklin Street near Preston Street. The fire rapidly spread through the walls from the first floor up to the third floor.
Fire crews had to break open the roof to access the fire, and officials said the blaze was escalated to a second alarm.
According to fire officials, two rescues were made off the third floor, and four more people were rescued from the stairs off the second floor.
Officials said that eight engines and five support trucks were on the scene to battle the blaze, and it took 40 minutes to knock the flames down.
"We had to open up the roof because the fire spread from the first floor to the third floor," said Hartford Fire Chief Rodney Barco. "It made it difficult to extinguish the fire on the first floor. It started running the walls...it made it very difficult.”
No residents were injured. Officials said one firefighter was treated at the scene for possible heat exhaustion but was not taken to the hospital. One of the residents who was rescued was taken to the hospital for evaluation but was not injured, officials said.
Miguel Franco owns the apartment building—he told FOX61 that everyone who lives here is family.
“You never expect anything like that happening to you,” Franco said. “They’re all employees good people hard-working people we will take care of them.”
It's unknown what the cause of the fire was at this time, and it's under investigation by the fire marshal.
Overall, four families were displaced, with nine people and one child. The Red Cross was at the scene to help the families.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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