Girl dies in Enfield house fire

(WTNH) -- A 13-year-old girl has died after a fire tore through a home in Enfield.

Late Wednesday night, a house on Hassmar Road in Enfield's Shaker Pines Lake community went up in flames. At first, rumor became an unconfirmed report.

Photos: Hassmar Road fatal fire

"We've been told there was three occupants in the house, we're accounting for two fo them, and at this point we haven't accounted for one," Chief Charles Macsata, of the Shaker Pines Fire Dept., said.

During the wee hours of Thursday morning, neighbors eventually confirmed the unthinkable, even if still unofficial.

"And I found out the mother and the boyfriend are outside screaming for the kid inside, and we later found out that the kid has passed away," neighbor Nelson Rodriquez said.

By and by, the news travels through the neighborhood -- although a woman and her boyfriend were able to escape, the woman's daughter, 13-year-old Hope Hart, a popular eighth-grader, never got out.

"I've sat next to her on the bus before, when I went to J.F.K. with her. A lot of her friends say she was a really good friend, and she'll definitely be missed," former schoolmate Jocelyn Mazur said.

No trivial matter that five firefighters were working from the back deck when it collapsed.

"We sent three of those gentleman to the hospital, they all have been released, two of them are back on the fire scene here, and one of them is home with his family," Chief Macsata said.

The house appears to be a total loss, but even immediately, that all shrinks in the long shadow of a life cut so short, so suddenly.

"Wonderful kid, great in the neighborhood. Rode her bike up and down, really, really loved, great in school," Rodriquez said.

"I know a lot of her friends live in this neighborhood, so they must be pretty upset about that. I couldn't imagine how her parents feel, but I give them sympathy for that," Mazur said.

In a statement, the J.F.K. Middle School told News 8 grief counseling is available for students, and a moment of silence was observed at 8 Thursday morning in Hope's memory.