The community of Danbury is coming together Saturday to help the victims of a massive fire in a 3-story apartment building.
Thirty people spent the coldest night of the year looking for a place to stay after a fast-moving fire ripped through their Danbury apartment building early Friday evening. The fire left them homeless and destroyed their belongings.
The fire at 7 New Street was only 400 feet away from the firehouse. It took firefighters only a minute to reach the burning building, but it was fully engulfed when they got the call.
The building went up quickly. Firefighters said that was because of its balloon frame structure. They said the building is a total loss. The residents told reporters they had no time to get anything but themselves out of the building.
"If the fire is in the wall, it doesn’t stop, it goes up through the wall, it just goes up through those chases," said Deputy Fire Chief T.J. Wiedle of the Danbury Fire Department. "In modern construction, we have stops everywhere so that doesn’t happen," he added.
The fire broke out Friday night after 6:30 p.m. and it quickly turned into a 3-alarm blaze. Twelve apartments and a vacant store on the first floor of the three story building are now uninhabitable.
Many of the residents spent Friday night at the nearby War Memorial Shelter. The Red Cross assisted the victims.
"Everyone is pressed for their resources. And to find out that they've lost everything - they are feeling very overwhelmed," said Laurie Kommritz of the American Red Cross in Danbury.
If there is a bright spot, it's that the community is coming together. People were donating all morning Saturday.
"They don't have coats," Kommritz said. "They don't have shoes. They don't have boots. The children that we're involved, they don't have toys."
It took 150 firefighters to get it under control according to fire department officials. No injuries were reported, but a woman five-months pregnant was taken to the hospital to be checked as a precaution.
Ice and cold made fighting the fire a challenge said Deputy Chief Wiedl.
"People coming back into the building had to be thawed. They were covered in ice," he explained. Crews had to be rotated throughout the night.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Firefighters on the scene said the fire is believed to have started on the first floor near the rear of the building.
The Red Cross said it is looking for more donations to help the victims of the fire. You may click here if you are interested in personally helping (the link will take you to the Red Cross site).
