HARTFORD, Conn. --
It was a busy morning for Hartford firefighters. Two fires taxed the department's resources and left almost 30 Hartford residents homeless.
It was just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday when Hartford firefighters got the call that at least a dozen people needed to be rescued from a burning building at 224 South Whitney St.
Kisha Taylor, of Hartford, said, I just saw flames shooting out the back door. I mean, the whole back door was engulfed in flames.
The fire quickly burned through the building, taking the homes of 19 people and sending one person to the hospital. A firefighter was also treated for exhaustion.
Just as things got under control on South Whitney Street, another fire broke out at 3150 Main St. Fire officials are investigating the second fire as arson.
Firefighters there weren't able to complete searching for occupants of the multifamily home when part of the structure collapsed.
Chief Charles Teale said, We have a partial collapse in this building and it's on the side of Aero All-Gas, so that was a major concern.
The 10 people who lived in the building were accounted for and firefighters were able to knock down the blaze.
Some of the companies battling the South Whitney fire had to go all the way across the city to tackle the Main Street fire. It took a toll on the firefighters and, at one point, the Hartford Fire Department only had six companies to cover the rest of the city.
With their resources already taxed, the Hartford Fire Department relied on its counterparts in East Hartford and West Hartford in case there was a fire in the city.
