Resident Pulled From Smoky Fire on Wakelee Avenue

Earlier this week, Stratford firemen rescued a person from the second floor of a smoky fire on Wakelee Avenue.

According to fire officials, Engines 1, 2 and 5, Ladder 1 and Car 3 were dispatched to the scene after a passerby called 911 at approximately 5:15 p.m. after seeing smoke coming from the house and observing that the siding was melting.

The caller also stated that the windows were black with smoke, hot to the touch and he believed the homeowner was still inside, fire officials reported.

Engine 1 arrived first and firemen stretched an 1 3/4" line to the basement and attacked the fire while fire personnel from Engine 2 began a search of the smoke-filled home. They located the unidentified homeowner on the second floor in a bedroom, overcome by the smoke.

Firemen from Engine 2 removed the unconscious homeowner and transferred her to a Stratford EMS unit. One Stratford firefight rode with EMS to Bridgeport Hospital to help in providing medical care to the victim.

The Stratford Fire Marshall's office is handling the investigation of the fire, which wasn't a large fire, one official said, but due to the type of combustibles that were burning in the basement, it was a particularly smoky one.

In general, poisoning, even death, from toxic gases and smoke is a major cause of asphyxiation and, unfortunately, is what usually gets people long before the actual fire does, one firefighter said.