One Person Burned in East Haven Fire

One person was taken to the hospital to be treated for burns after a fire in East Haven on Thursday morning.

The fire started in the lower unit of a two-family house at 54 Hemmingway Ave.

It was reported at 8:06 a.m. and the fire was under control by 8:20 a.m., officials said.

The person who was injured was in the unit where the fire started, officials said.

The person who was inside the other unit got out on his or her own and was not uninjured.

"I woke up to my smoke alarms going off. I ran downstairs with no shoes on," John Vitelli, of East Haven, said.

"The gentleman on the first floor was throwing stuff out the door, I guess to get the fire out," he said.

Vitelli called 911 and got out of the house. 

"Downstairs, they had to cut the back of the house open," he said. "It's just an old house. It gets inside the walls and that's it." 

Officials believe the fire started in the back of the house. The fire department had to turn off power to the home.

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