The Enfield community is rallying around a family who lost everything in a devastating house fire Tuesday afternoon.
The fire broke out around 3 p.m. at the home on Route 5 in Enfield. The bulk of the flames tore through the front of the three-family home where the Torres family lived with their six children.
“We saw nothing when we came home from the grocery store. Twenty minutes later, we saw smoke pouring out of the house, we could see flames coming out from the roof,” said neighbor Hannah Forest.
Matthew Sylvester was walking by the home Tuesday and noticed the chaos. He helped get a tenant in a rear unit to safety.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“[I] ran back up to the house with my dog, knocked on the door, got one of the kids, let him know to get out,” he said. “It opened my eyes big time.”
The family’s teenaged daughter was home at the time and jumped from a second-story window to safety. Luckily, she walked away with only some cuts and bruises.
“I know that she was trapped and had to break the window, so, she came out with some cuts and bruises, but all in all, physically OK,” said Amy Bailey, co-owner of East Celebrity Elite of Manchester.
Local
Bailey said that teen and her sister have been cheering at her facility for nearly a decade. Now, she’s hosting a donation drive for them to help them get back on their feet.
She said the children’s ages range from 21 years old to five months old.
“We are taking donations – clothing, shoes, anything that you can think of,” Bailey said. “They went from everything to nothing, so, anything you can think of.”
Investigators say they are still working to determine a cause.
The donation drive is being held from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 20 at the Thompsonville Fire Department. The cheerleading facility is also hosting a Trunk or Treat on Saturday and open gym event on Sunday where all proceeds will go to the Torres family.
