Several occupants were inside the condominium units when the fire was reported Friday morning, but there were no injuries.
By Ronni Newton
A fire that started in a basement apartment at 102 Oakwood Ave. in West Hartford Friday morning destroyed that unit and the porches on the building, and caused smoke damage to several other units, but fire officials said that luckily no one was injured.
West Hartford Fire Department Battalion Chief Kevin Munson said that the fire was reported at 11:11 a.m.
Police were the first to arrive on the scene, he said, and could see that the structure was already involved with fire that appeared to be coming from the basement unit. The fire department arrived within three minutes, he said.
A resident of the basement unit, who is disabled, was inside when the fire started, Munson said.
“A home health aid and police assisted with the evacuation,” Munson said, and the resident was safely brought out by wheelchair.
The building has two stories in addition to the basement, and Munson said that when the fire department arrived there was one woman on the second floor hanging off her porch. Fire officials safely rescued her with a ground ladder, Munson said.
All other occupants were able to self-evacuate.
“There were no injuries to firefighters, or miraculously, to civilians,” Munson said.
All of the smoke detectors in the building were working properly, he said.
Damage to the basement unit was extensive and Munson said that it is uninhabitable and a complete loss. Two other units had smoke damage but will be able to be occupied once they are cleaned up.
All of the porches on the east side of the building were damaged.
All 20 on-duty members of the West Hartford Fire Department responded to the incident, Munson said. The Hartford Fire Department covered their calls during that time.
The fire was brought under control at 11:42 a.m. The fire marshal is currently investigating and could not comment on the suspected cause of the fire.
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Fire at 102 Oakwood Ave., Sept. 1, 2017. Photo credit: Joe Faraoni (courtesy photo)
Fire at 102 Oakwood Ave., Sept. 1, 2017. Photo credit: Joe Faraoni (courtesy photo)
Fire at 102 Oakwood Ave., Sept. 1, 2017. Photo credit: Joe Faraoni (courtesy photo)
Fire at 102 Oakwood Ave., Sept. 1, 2017. Photo credit: Joe Faraoni (courtesy photo)
Fire at 102 Oakwood Ave., Sept. 1, 2017. Photo credit: Joe Faraoni (courtesy photo)
Fire at 102 Oakwood Ave., Sept. 1, 2017. Photo credit: Joe Faraoni (courtesy photo)
A condominium at 102 Oakwood Ave. was destroyed in a fire Friday morning, and other units received smoke damage. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Fire Department
A condominium at 102 Oakwood Ave. was destroyed in a fire Friday morning, and other units received smoke damage. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Fire Department
Have you noticed there are more and more fires at the older complexes in West Hartford??? Perhaps the fire department should step up inspections on any complex in WH over 50 years old or so, and make sure violations are cured. Sponsor more fire safety awareness programs, try to make sure people have fire extinguishers and know how to use them. You see from these articles that some of these people living in these complexes are disabled, etc.
[…] “It’s important to continue to strive when you go to a call,” Munson said. “There was no loss of life, but we were in a position to win and we didn’t,” he said of the Prospect Avenue fire. “Every one we’ve had since, it’s been success. We could deploy in a way that cut it off. That preparation put us in a position to succeed,” he said, noting success with a recent incident on Oakwood Avenue. […]