Conn. Fire Leaves Three in Critical Condition
Source The Hartford Courant
WEST HARTFORD — Nine people were taken to hospitals, three of them with critical injuries, after an early-morning fire in a Kane Street condo complex fire.
Four people had been in critical condition before the condition of one was upgraded, Fire Chief Gary Allyn said. Two of the three remaining in critical condition have been transferred to Bridgeport Hospital's burn unit, he said.
About 100 people were displaced by the fire at Westwood Condominiums, at 140 Kane St., Allyn said. Seven or eight people had to be rescued from porches, he said.
"We got the people out quickly," Allyn said.
A pet cat died in the fire, he said.
The Red Cross opened an emergency shelter for the people displaced from about 40 different units. People will be receiving food and dinner and place to stay overnight if they don't have one.
Most of the damage happened in units B7 and C7 on the second and third floors of the building, which faces Oakwood Avenue.
A unit above them, D7, has heat and smoke damage, he said.
Alan Goodkofsky said he was in a deep sleep in his second-floor condo when he woke up to a loud crashing sound. A firefighter had busted down his door and told him he had to leave.
"I was in a sitting position before I knew what I was doing," he said.
The firefighter escorted him through a neighbor's evacuated condo and helped him down a ladder to the ground.
Goodkofsky said he's a sound sleeper and didn't hear the fire alarms. Others likely heard them but ignored them – there has been a number of false alarms recently, he said.
Goodkofsky was at a temporary shelter set up by the Red Cross at the Elmwood Community Center.
Only 7 or 8 people had gone to the shelter by 11 a.m. The Red Cross asks that all fire victims check in at some point, even if they have a place to stay, to find out for what assistance they may qualify.
Many victims waited near the scene to find out if they could return to their condos to retrieve their belongings, volunteers said.
Investigators are seeking an administrative warrant from a judge before they begin searching for evidence, the chief said. Troopers from the state police Fire and Explosion Unit are assisting with the investigation.
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