2 DEAD IN APARTMENT FIRE AT EAST BROOKLYN MILL SITE IN CONNECTICUT. ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN RED CROSS, AT LEAST 14 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED.
January 30, 2015
BROOKLYN, Conn. (WTNH)– Two people are dead following a house
fire in Brooklyn Friday afternoon.
Two men were killed Friday afternoon when fire tore through
the old Tiffany Mill site in East Brooklyn, ravaging apartments and forcing
nearly a dozen residents from their homes.
Building owner Jim Dandeneau said earlier Friday
afternoon that two residents remained unaccounted for after another tenant went
door-to-door to rouse neighbors and get everyone out.
"There are two tenants still missing. We
haven't heard yet from the fire department, haven't gotten official word, but
we're not sure they made it out," Dandeneau said, adding that one of
the missing residents had worked the third shift for him Thursday night.
State police said crews from the Brooklyn Fire
Department searched the building just after 1:45 p.m. and found the bodies.
According to Major Michael Darcy, the men died in the area where the fire broke
out. They have not been publicly identified.
According to emergency dispatchers, flames had
already engulfed the building by the time firefighters arrived, and they had to
beat back the fire before they could get inside.
Dandeneau said the historic structure, built in
1820, contains seven apartments and houses 10 or 11 residents. A spokesperson
for the American Red Cross, which is helping tenants who lost their homes, said
at least 14 people have been displaced.
The facility suffered major damage. Dandeneau
said smoke detectors sounded but the building is not equipped with sprinklers
due to its age. He employs a full-time maintenance worker and added that the
apartments are newly renovated and the building is up to code.
Karl Kuhn Jr., of Kuhn Builders in North
Grosvenordale, said he saw smoke pouring from the windows and rushed to the
rescue of two tenants who had refused to leave the burning building without
their cat.
Six fire departments from Brooklyn and Killingly
responded to the scene, along with state police troopers, who have shut down
Route 6 in the area of 182 South Main Street.
The Connecticut State Police Fire
& Explosion Investigative Unit and Eastern District Major Crime Squad
are investigating, along with the local fire marshal.
It's not yet clear if the fire is accidental or
will be deemed suspicious.