EAST LYME, Conn. — Two people are dead after a fire broke out in an East Lyme home, officials said.
East Lyme Fire Marshal Eric Bundy said a passerby reported the fire to the department just after 8 a.m. Friday. Officials said that East Lyme and Niantic fire departments were first at the scene and found heavy smoke coming from the attic.
The fire quickly escalated to a 3-alarm blaze, which prompted additional help from surrounding departments, including Waterford.
Crews at the scene went into the home to search for anyone who may have been inside. They pulled one person from the home and they were rushed to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital.
Crews then found another person inside the home, and they were pronounced dead at the scene. Officials said the person found in the home was Merril Lozanov, 95. His death has been determined to be accidental.
Officials said they believed only those two people were inside the house at the time of the fire. East Lyme Fire Chief Erik Quinn said that it was not the ending that firefighters hoped for.
"We will be checking with our first responders. We already had contact with a counselor to speak with them," Quinn said.
Quinn said that to extinguish the flames, crews had to bring in a tanker task force to use them to shuttle water to the scene since there are no nearby hydrants.
"We have a 35,000-gallon water pool about 4,000-5,000 feet away," Quinn explained. "We started the tankers and we started dropping hoses so we could have water both ways."
Bundy said that it's unknown what sparked the fire at this time or where it started.
"As part of the investigation, specifically as it relates to a fatality, we normally will do a 24-hour background to get all the demographics and all the background from family members," Bundy said. "So that is something we will certainly explore and try to determine what played what part."
He continued to say that crews would remain at the scene for the rest of the morning and likely into the afternoon investigating.
Officials said there were no reported injuries to firefighters and there were no animals inside the home.
This is a developing story.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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