Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said police officers David Ramos and Scott Stelzer helped evacuate residents of a multifamily apartment building on Carew Street that burst into flames early Sunday morning.
Dual aerial ladder pipes douse an early Sunday morning house fire on Carew Street in Hungry Hill. The home was destroyed in the blaze, which was reported around 3 a.m. Sunday.SPRINGFIELD -- Two Springfield police officers are being credited with helping to save residents from a burning building in the Hungry Hill section of the city early Sunday morning.
Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said officers David Ramos and Scott Stelzer helped evacuate residents of the multifamily apartment building at 674 Carew St., which burst into flames around 3 a.m. Sunday.
The building was home to 15 people spread over four units, and some of those residents had attempted to re-enter the flaming, smoke-filled building to retrieve their pets. But Leger said the police officers ushered the tenants from the burning, wood-frame structure, which went up like a tinder box.
"The officers were assisting people to get them out of the house," Leger said.
Police were first to respond to the scene around 3:05 a.m. Sunday, with firefighters arriving only moments later.
There were no reported injuries in the fast-moving fire, which forced the closure of roughly 250 yards of Carew Street from Van Horn Place to Armory Street for several hours as firefighters battled the blaze. At least one dog died in the fire, however, and several other pets were reported missing, according to Leger.
The two-story, 7,300-square-foot building was declared a total loss. Leger estimated damages of around $180,000, which included the value of the building and tenants' personal property destroyed in the fire.
The heavily damaged building, which is more than 90 years old, was at risk of collapsing and had to be demolished, according to city officials.
Leger credited firefighters with preventing the fire from spreading to other homes on the densely populated block, where most buildings are situated close to one another on small lots.
"They did a good job of containing it to that house," Leger said, adding that homes located immediately west and east of the burning building suffered virtually no damage.
Making matters difficult for firefighters were a pair of "dead hydrants," near the fire site. It was not immediately clear what caused them to malfunction.
"One they were using, it just stopped working," Leger said.
Officials haven't cited an official cause for the fire, which is being probed by arson investigators.