A woman who tried to rescue family dogs trapped in a house fire on Seltsam Road also died Sunday morning, according to Fire Chief Richard Thode. The fire occurred in the Whiskey Hill neighborhood along the Route 25/8 Connector. Two others were hospitalized by the fire that destroyed the house.
CT Post report here.
Steve Krauchick of Doing It Local who was on the scene provides this video report.
Just before 1:30 Sunday morning fire broke out at 335 Seltsam Road. A sea of flames could be seen from Route 8/25 connector when firefighters first arrived. The homeowner told me he and his family were sound asleep when he heard the smoke detectors going off. Neighbors told me that they pulled an elderly woman out of the back of the house, they said she was badly burned. Radio reports said a second person living in the home was burned in the fire. There are two dogs in the home which could not be found at this time. The fire was so bad that firefighters initially used an exterior attack until they had the fire under control about an hour later.
I was once involved with a house fire. Whenever someone thinks of a fire,they may visualize a fireplace,a campfire etc. Something that looks benign and manageable. However,when one is caught in a housefire,it is more akin to being in the middle of a furnace. There is a fury in a housefire that cannot be imagined. Seconds count. A lethal combination of chemical and combustible explosion that expands by the second. Whenever I see these housefire stories,it returns to that night when I was caught in a housefire. I thank the members of The Bridgeport Fire Department who did their best to save my house(as much as possible). I saw heroic efforts to save human lives that were waiting to be rescued out on porches and the efforts of The BFD to find if anyone else might be in danger during the fire. I also had one firefighter come to me and say that one fatality was found…a pet cat.Ironically,there are commemorations going on as we speak for the last fatalities within The Bridgeport Fire Department.
First I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family of this lady that list her life in this fire. Please people if you should be unfortunate enough to experience a fire let your only actions be to get you and your family outside safely. I understand that we love our pets, but jeopardizing ones life isn’t prudent to save a trusted pet as our families need us more.
One other thing, every firefighter including those that fought this fire will take this death with them for the rest of their lives. They’ll remember the day, the name and the circumstance with them as if it was a family member. Without exception, we keep this with us forever.
Great job as always to the Bridgeport Fire Dept. Always putting their own lives at risk.
I am so sorry for the family and the woman that perished. Very sad. As an animal lover myself. I totally understood her motivation. I too would have gone back in the home . I can not differentiate between humans and my pets. They are family. The grief would be equally overwhelming. . People should have stickers on doors also to let people know there are pets in the house. Just a very sad situation for the family that survived. Thank G-d there were no deaths of any of our finest!. Tough job when there is a fire.
Tough Job always