There were no injuries reported after a fire in an apartment house on Caroline Street Saturday.
Two cats were rescued from the blaze, which was contained to a single bedroom within a two-story, six-unit apartment building at 275 Caroline St.
No one was in the apartment when the fire started. Click here for an updated story with the cause and origin.
Two women who appeared to be the tenants ran to the scene at about 9 p.m.
They were interviewed by Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks, who is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.
The fire was reported about 8:10 p.m.
Derby Fire Department Chief Kurt Kemmesies said Assistant Chief Robert Laskowski, Jr. was the first firefighter to arrive.
“He saw there was fire showing from the front window on the first floor,” Kemmesies said. “Crews did an excellent job knocking the fire down quickly. The only damage was in that one room. The fire did not make it to the second floor, or anywhere else.”
It was unclear where the tenants would be spending the night. Firefighters had to break windows on the second floor to vent smoke.
No one from the surrounding apartments were displaced.
The two cats weren’t harmed.
“We got pet carriers from neighbors so they’re all packaged up and warm,” the chief said.
It was 39 degrees at the time of the fire.
Shelton firefighters also responded to the scene, with one company from Shelton covering incoming fire calls on Derby’s west side.
The apartment house was the scene of a deadly fire in 1991 that took the life of a mom and her two children.
