Four families will be displaced for Thanksgiving after fire broke out at 412 South Main St. in New Britain just before 4 a.m. on Tuesday, killing some pet birds.
Firefighters arrived to find fire in the back of the building that houses a carpet business, Modern Carpet, on the first floor and several apartments on the upper two floors. The fire spread to the front and it took firefighters around an hour and a half to get it under control.
Residents were in their apartments when the fire broke out, but no people who live in the building were injured, according to Mayor Erin Stewart.
A pet dog was also saved, but some pet birds were killed.
"The whole place caught on fire. It was bad, real bad. Our birds are dead in there. Basically everybody's out. That's the main important thing," Johnny Rosario, a resident of the building, said.
He said he woke up to the sounds of popping and windows cracking and had to get his 71-year-old mother out of bed and to safety.
Firefighters said it's always tragic when people lose their homes to fire, but it's even more difficult when it happens around the holidays.
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"Fires are always tragic when people lose their homes. Whether people are hurt or not, but around the holidays, it just makes it even more so," Fire Chief Thomas Ronalter, of the New Britain Fire Department, said.
West Hartford and Hartford Fire Departments are providing mutual aid in the city.
The American Red Cross is assisting the four displaced families, including eight adults and two children and investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.
