Five families have been displaced after fire tore through their Hartford apartment building early Tuesday morning.
The blaze started at about 2 a.m. and spread to six apartment units at 356 Wethersfield Avenue, according to the Hartford Fire Department. Firefighters put the flames out by 3:45 a.m.
Fire Captain James McLoughlin said flames consumed rear porches on all three floors. The back of the building and residents' belongings were destroyed.
Everyone made it out safely and no one was injured.
Frankie Pinott said he noticed flames and started banging on doors and shouting for the families in the apartment building to get out.
“Where do we go from here? What are we going to wear and eat? Where are we going to sleep at?” resident Tamika Miller said through tears. “We can’t go back in. We lost everything. We all have to start over.”
Firefighters told residents of the building that the fire seems to have started on the third floor, according to the daughter of one of the people displaced. She said residents have been put up at a local motel for the time being.
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The cause of the fire is unknown and the Hartford Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.
“They said somebody was arguing in the front and then two minutes later it was like a big explosion in the back,” Miller said.
McLoughlin said it's not clear yet whether the fire is supsicious.
