A three-alarm fire took out a dozen condos in Brookfield, Conn. early Thursday, displacing 10 families in the dead of night and sending two people to the hospital.
The fire easily spread from the originating unit to the rest of the condos because there were no fire-stops in the attic, fire officials said.
“It’s an open roof,” Assistant Fire Department Chief Derek Broadmeyer told local ABC affiliate WTNH. “So once it got into the roof from one unit, it spread down through all the adjacent units.”
In addition, the water main servicing the condos was just four inches in diameter, which could not deliver enough water to quell such a massive blaze, so water had to be trucked in, WTNH reported.
The call came in at about 1:20 a.m. Thursday at the Ledgewood Condominiums and did not spread beyond the one building out of several in the complex.
First responders went door-to-door banging to awaken and evacuate the residents. A police officer and civilian were taken to the hospital for evaluation, police told NBC affiliate WVIT. The officer was released while there was no update on the other person, other than police said there were no major injuries.
The fire’s cause is being investigated.
Residents were left with little more than ashes, though they were grateful to be alive. They were receiving help from the Red Cross at a nearby senior center.
“I lost everything, even my car,” resident Ricky Brandon told the Danbury News Times. “Everything is gone.”