A 6-year old girl has died in a house fire at 10 Windsor Ave. in Plainfield.
Officials received a 911 call just before 11 p.m. Wednesday from inside the home and were told people were trapped inside.
When police officers arrived, they were able to rescue a woman and an 18-month-old boy from a window of the burning house, but they were unable to reach the 6-year-old girl.
The woman who lives in the home, 18-month-old boy and a male resident of the house were rushed to Backus Hospital, but the woman has been transferred to a Rhode Island Hospital, where she is listed in critical condition.
The man and baby have been treated and released, according to fire officials.
Two police officers were also taken to Backus Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.
Fire officials said this is a difficult call for the members of the department who went back into the building to look for the missing child.
Local
"Firefighters just kept going back into the building, doing a secondary search and an additional follow up search and it was the firefighters who found the deceased in the house,” Plainfield Fire Marshal Paul Yellen said.
Some of the firefighters who responded have young children and this struck home for the entire department.
“It’s very challenging. Imagine a room you don’t know anything about. You don’t know the layout of the furniture, it’s pitch dark and you can’t see anything," Yellen said. "You’re searching for anything that could be a victim, a child, an adult. Maybe you pick up a doll, a toy and think you might have found something when in fact you haven’t."
"It’s very difficult because a small child can hide anywhere, anywhere in the house," Yellen said. "The crews that did eventually find the young girl. They all have young children of their own, so they’re having a very tough time this morning.”
Habitat for Humanity built the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home and the family has only lived there a few months. They moved in in July.
“We are grief stricken for the family. Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with the family,” Terri O'Rourke, executive director and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut, Inc., said in a statement.
The Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit, the Plainfield Fire Marshal and the Plainfield Police Department investigating.
