Five firefighters were injured in a fire at a multifamily home in Bridgeport early Friday morning.
One firefighter suffered a shoulder injury when the roof of 143 Coleman St. collapsed. Four other firefighters suffered heat exhaustion.
The fire broke out in the 19th century boarding house at 3:50 a.m. and it was escalated to two alarms.
Angel Martinez alerted the residents about the fire.
“I was yelling for them so they could hear my voice,” he said. “I was saying, ‘I'm right here. I'm right here.”
Residents said they followed the sound of his voice to find their way out.
“And they came right to me,” Martinez said.
This is the second time Martinez lost a home in a fire, police said, but he said there's comfort in knowing he saved his neighbors lives.
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Firefighters helped the residents who were not able to get out on their own.
“We had people in the windows. We were pulling them out, one after another,” Deputy Chief Bruce Porzett, of the Bridgeport Fire Department, said. “These guys were walking through walls of fire. They did a great job. Nobody died, which I'm really surprised (about).”
Fire officials said the building had half a dozen roofs on the building, but should not have had more than three.
One resident said she believes the electrical box in the basement became overheated and started the blaze.
The Red Cross is helping more than 30 people who were displaced and opened at Curiale School at 300 Laurel St. as of 7 a.m.
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