Eight people were taken to the hospital Wednesday morning after a smoky fire burned in their Hartford apartment building.
Seven were treated for smoke inhalation from the fire at 105 Preston St. in the South End. One woman broke her ankle when she jumped from a window to get away from the smoke, Deputy Chief Kenneth Kowal said. Twenty families have been displaced.
The fire in the three-story building was reported about 9:15 a.m., and as firefighters rushed to the scene, they heard reports that people were trapped inside or hanging out windows, he said.
“There was a lot of smoke on all three floors,” Kowal said.
Two residents were helped down a ground ladder from the third floor, and power ladders were used to rescue three others from the second and third floors on the other side of the building, Kowal said.
A woman on the first floor didn’t wait to be helped and jumped 6 or 7 feet to the asphalt below, breaking her ankle. Although she wasn’t very high up, “a jump like that onto the blacktop would do it,” the deputy chief said.
The fire, which didn’t spread beyond a first-floor apartment, was knocked down and under control by 9:35 a.m., Kowal said. But while the flames didn’t spread, the smoke did — which is reminiscent of the fire in the Bronx Sunday that killed 17. All 17 people, including eight children, died of smoke inhalation.
In the Bronx fire, officials believe a door that stayed open allowed smoke to rise through the high-rise. Kowal doesn’t know if that’s the reason smoke traveled in Hartford’s fire Wednesday.
“I was getting reports a lot of apartments were pretty charged up with smoke,” he said.
If an apartment door is closed and well sealed, a resident can stay safe in the apartment even when the hallway fills with smoke, Kowal said.
Inspectors determined Wednesday afternoon that the 25 adults and seven children who live in the building may not return to their apartments because of damage that includes compromised electrical components, District Chief Mario Oquendo said. The fire department’s Special Services Unit is working with the American Red Cross to help the families find a place to stay.
Representatives of the fire marshal’s office were investigating the cause of the fire.
Christine Dempsey may be reached at [email protected].
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