Dec. 20--MANCHESTER -- Fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire at 91 Charter Oak St. on Monday morning.
One resident was home when the fire broke out around 11:35 a.m. The 38-year-old woman was sleeping and awoke to the smell of smoke. She went to an adjacent bedroom, opened the door and was met with a powerful blast of hot smoke and gases, according to a press release.
The woman collected the family's three dogs and escaped uninjured, Fire Chief Robert Bycholski said. Firefighters later rescued three cats from the home, Bycholski said.
The blaze started in a second-floor bedroom, but they are investigating how, he said. Firefighters saw flames coming from the two-story single-family home when they arrived. Strong winds spread the fire inside the home, according to the release.
One firefighter was brought to Manchester Memorial Hospital with a back injury. The woman also was taken to the hospital to be treated for exposure to smoke, Bycholski said.
The second floor of the wood-frame home, on a back lot near Charter Oak and Spruce streets, was extensively damaged and is uninhabitable, Bycholski said.
