Flames crackled and smoke poured out of an apartment complex on Farmington Avenue in Hartford on Thanksgiving morning.
Neighbor Rigaubert Percy said he was by his car when he saw the smoke just after 10 a.m. At first he thought it was his building, but then realized it was the one next door.
“I started yelling, calling, ‘Get out of the building! Get out of the building!’” said Percy.
Curtis Blake lives on the first floor. He heard his neighbor’s yells and smelled the smoke.
“I look up, and the roof was on fire. It was coming from the top floor apartment,” said Blake. “I think, ‘Oh, that’s bad.’ Thanksgiving I should be relaxing, but there isn’t a special time for disaster,” said Blake.
When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke on the second and third floors. The strong wind gusts worked against them on the cold morning.
“The nature of where the fire was located was half on the interior and half on the exterior and when the wind started kicking up, it started feeding the fire, making it difficult to extinguish,” said Assistant Chief Rodney Barco.
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There are nine units in the building, and firefighters said two were impacted. Firefighters said everyone self-evacuated and no one was injured.
Later in the morning, firefighters brought out a pair of rabbits from the third floor and reunited them with their owner. They were shaken, but unharmed and were brought into a warm car.
Those who live in the building said they’re grateful everyone is okay.
“Just got to give thanks it’s not worse. The whole apartment could have burned down. The firemen did a good job,” said Blake.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
