An Ansonia volunteer firefighter rescued his next-door neighbor, retired Ansonia Town Clerk Madeline Bottone, after a fire began in her kitchen Friday evening.
Ansonia Fire Marshal Ralph Tingley said the firefighter, Scott Thomson, was home Friday about 7 p.m. when the fire broke out at Bottone house at 31 Webster Drive.
Thomson, who lives next door, rushed into the home and led Bottone out.
Bottone was the only one in the home at the time.
An ambulance took Bottone to Bridgeport Hospital to be treated for burns, Tingley said. Her condition was unknown Monday. The Valley Indy left a message at the hospital. A woman on Facebook said she was OK but shaken from Friday’s event.
Heavy smoke could be seen from the back of the house when firefighters arrived.
Firefighters stretched a hose and extinguished the fire, keeping the flames contained to the kitchen, though Tingley said there was smoke and heat damage to the home’s living room.
Tingley said he suspects the blaze might have been caused by an electrical malfunction of some kind, but the damage from the fire means he can’t make a conclusive ruling about how it started.
The cause of the fire was ruled accidental, he said, and the home is still habitable.
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