A dog died and four people were displaced after a fire at 24 Summit St. in Derby Tuesday.
There were no other injuries.
The Red Cross was on the scene to offer hotel vouchers for the people who were displaced.
The Derby Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating.
The Derby Fire Department was sent to the scene about 5:40 p.m.
A neighbor who did not give his name said he was coming home from work and saw dark smoke billowing into the sky.
“When I came to Ninth Street, I thought it was my house burning,” the man said.
The smoke could be seen on Route 8 and on Route 34.
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The house has four apartments. Two people — a mother and her adult son — were home in one of the apartments.
They made it out safely, as did their dog.
The neighbor and a female Derby police officer tried to get into the house, but the smoke was too thick, according to the neighbor.
Another dog died in the fire.
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A third dog, Charger, was lifeless when Derby firefighters Louis Oliwa, Alex Neuendorf and Ricky Valenti came upon him.
Oliwa said the firefighters put an oxygen mask on the dog to get him moving again. The dog came to life, though lethargic. He was fine within 30 minutes.
See the photo below, which shows the dog shortly after he was revived That’s Derby firefighter Pete D’Antona with the dog, while Derby’s Frank Pepe looks on:
“(The dog) seemed to be in some type of arrest, but members were able to revive him,” said Derby Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Mike Goodman.
Goodman said the second floor was “fully involved” with flames when the first units arrived.
The bulk of the fire was concentrated on the left side of the house’s second floor.
The two-story, 2,300 square-foot house was built in 1910.
“It started to to go through both ends of the building and eventually into the attic,” Goodman said.
Firefighters had a hard time accessing the apartments on the second floor because of the building’s setup.
“The fire conditions deteriorated at that point. We actually had to pull the guys out twice because of the conditions inside,” Goodman said.
Shelton and Ansonia fire departments responded to the scene and provided coverage for Derby in case additional calls came in.
