One dead after fire destroys home

Berlin (WTNH) - One person was killed after a fire destroyed a home in Berlin early Tuesday morning.

Fire crews say it was a hard blaze to fight and the house on Deerfield Drive was already full of fire and smoke when they got there around 2:30 this morning.

"When we arrived here we had heavy fire on all four sides of the building. Crews pulled the lines to the front door tried to advance up to the second floor. The stairway gave away inside," said Chief Jim Simons of the Berlin Fire Department.

They tried again with ladders but then the fire threw a new surprise at them.

"We had a small explosion inside, probably an aerosol can or something a little larger than that, let go inside. At that time we pulled everybody out," said Chief Simons.

When the house went up in flames, there were three people and three pets inside. Emergency crews were able to rescue two of the people and two of the pets.

"I just removed one cat that was singed up pretty good from the fire, and I will be transporting that cat to the veterinarians. There's another dog right next door on the front step. That's in good condition," said Roger Rukowicz, Cromwell Animal Control.

That dog is fine, but another dog died in the fire. And after the flames stopped and firefighters could get inside, they confirmed that the third person died as well. The victim was a woman Evelyn Jacobs knew as a friendly face on her daily walks.

"You know, wave to her as I walk by every day with my dogs," Evelyn said.

Once the fire was out, local and state fire marshals took over, investigating the cause of the fire that took a life and saddened a neighborhood.

"We were just praying that no one lost their life and unfortunately that's not true," Evelyn said.