Plainfield, CT – A woman and her dog have succumbed to their injuries after a house fire Sunday evening.
At approximately 6:20 p.m. on Sunday, February 11th, 2024, members of the Atwood Hose Fire Company and mutual aid were dispatched to 35 Pine Crest Dr for a reported house fire. While en route dispatchers from the Quinebaug Valley Emergency Communications Center (QVEC) relayed to units that an occupant was possibly trapped within the home.
According to Chief Robert Duval, Atwood Hose Fire Company, crews arrived to find heavy fire showing from a window, which was later discovered to be a bedroom, of a one-and-a-half-story single-family residence. Firefighters on the initial truck began a transitional attack, fighting the fire through an exterior window until additional personnel arrived on the scene to make a push into the building. This tactic enabled crews to significantly knock the fire down before personnel entered the building, allowing the fire to be completely knocked down within approximately 5 minutes of making entry into the residence. As the interior attack crews entered the building, search crews began looking for possible occupants within the structure.
Due to the relatively small size of the driveway, Chief Duval placed an Engine Tanker (ET) and a Ladder as close to the home as possible, and all other crews staged their apparatus and walked into the scene. To supply water to the ET, which was pumping water to attack lines, a supply line was laid up the driveway to a Tanker which was strategically placed in the culdesac at the end of the driveway. With the nearest hydrant approximately 2500′ away at the intersection of Jolley Rd and Putnam Rd (RT 12) and no way for Large Diameter Hose (LDH) to be laid into the scene without crossing the roadway, cutting off access to the scene, a tanker shuttle was established between the hydrant, tended by Hose Tender 196 (HT196) and the tanker positioned in the culdesac.
The Plainfield Police Department confirmed that a woman and her dog were where found deceased during these searches. No firefighters sustained any injuries during the incident.
The Plainfield Fire Marshal’s Office along with the Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosives Investigation Unit and Plainfield Police Department are investigating the fire.
Chief Duval finished by saying, “It’s a sad day, we knew the woman, she is the widow of one of our members who passed several years ago. We knew her personally, having [been called to the residence] several times over the years for various types of calls.”
Agencies that responded, or were dispatched, included the Atwood Hose Fire Company, Moosup Fire Department, Central Village Fire Company, Mortlake Fire Company, Dayville Fire Company, Plainfield Fire Co. #1, American Legion (Moosup) Ambulance, Plainfield Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosives Investigation Unit.
In accordance with Quiet Corner Alerts policy, the name of the victim has been withheld.