HARTFORD -- On Thursday, Hartford fire and city officials honored the brave men and women who sprang into action after a fire broke out inside an apartment complex on Wethersfield Avenue.
On the morning of March 7th chaos unfolded as a fire ripped through the building..
Residents frantically called 911, but it was what happened before firefighters arrive that made all the difference.
Employees at Industries Inc. saw the fire and immediately took action. Workers brought out ladders to help residents get out of the burning building.
Miguel Rodriguez, a Hartford resident, also joined in and helped. Rodriguez was out walking his dog and dropped everything to help a mother and her two children who were trying to escape from the second floor.
“I ran toward the ditches under her window and she threw me her little one and the little girl came and she kind of took a tumble, but I caught her afterwards,” says Rodriguez.
Rodriguez and his wife Ivette Torres covered the children in blankets and sheltered them while they were reunited with their mother.
Also honored on Thursday was Ciara Nazario, the dispatcher. Her professionalism helped others get out safely.
A total of 10 people were treated for smoke inhalation, another person was treated for burns. The fire chief says they are all okay, and credited for all of the brave folks involved.
The fire has been ruled as arson. Hartford Police arrested 38 year old Eladia Vazquez in connection to it. She’s been charged with arson, reckless endangerment, risk of an injury to a minor, and criminal mischief.