One firefighter was injured during a fire that destroyed a vacant building on Connerton Street in New Britain on Tuesday night.
Firefighters responded to 42 Connerton St., a three-story brick building, at 10:20 p.m. and found smoke pouring from the building.
Around an hour later, as crews were evacuating people inside the building, a crew became disoriented on the third floor and a mayday was called, but it was canceled around two minutes later when the crew came out of the building, according to the New Britain Fire Department.
The roof of the building collapsed during the fire and there was in an internal collapse as well.
The families who lived inside the six apartments were moved temporarily to the Red Roof Inn. The owner of the building told NBC Connecticut pipes were being repaired for furnaces in the building, but tenants never expected that they wouldn't be able to come back.
"It’s hard, it’s not easy because it’s hard when you plan to have all of your stuff and then in a blink of an eye you’re going to lose everything," Yesenia Salvador, who lived in her apartment for two years, said.
The American Red Cross’s disaster responders met with the affected families, like Salvador, at the Red Roof Inn on Wednesday to provide them with toiletries, money to get them by for a few days and funding to stay at the hotel for up to three days.
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But they still aren't sure what they'll do after that.
A city spokesperson told NBC Connecticut that the city’s community services department assisted victims immediately by connecting them to food and clothing and they will also be helping them find another apartment.
There’s no word on what started the fire at this time and the fire is under investigation.
