More than a dozen people are looking for a new place to live after a roaring fire in Meriden.
The flames broke out on Wilcox Avenue around 5 p.m. Sunday.
“I look at my grandkids and I thank god we are alive,” Ivonne Ramirez of Meriden, said.
Ramirez and her two grandkids were stunned as a fire ripped through this multi-family home in Meriden. The incredible flames spread as the family was set to celebrate the kids’ birthdays.
“I see the fire. So I scream, ‘Fire, fire, fire.’ So, we all ran outside,” Ramirez said.
Thankfully firefighters say all 15 people who lived at this spot on Wilcox Avenue are okay.
Neighbors’ thoughts are with them.
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“I saw little kids wrapped in blankets, freezing. No clothes, no shoes, no socks,” Cheryl McCarthy of Meriden, said.
This was a tough battle for firefighters.
“First arriving company found heavy fire on all three floors. They initiated an aggressive, interior attack,” Deputy Chief Ryan Dunn, Meriden Fire, said.
As the fire kept building, crews later had to pull back. Then reinforcements arrived in the city from Middletown, Southington and Berlin.
Now Ramirez and others face a daunting challenge of rebuilding their lives.
“We lost everything,” Ramirez said.
The Red Cross is expected to help the affected residents.
