Firewire 12-12

OCT. 1: BYRON, MI – A blaze later determined to be arson destroyed multiple businesses and apartments in two-story brick buildings. It began in a vacant apartment above one of the village’s most popular restaurants, which was among the destroyed.

OCT. 16: PITTSFIELD, MA – Firefighters battled a structure fire in a multi-family home. Three families were displaced.

OCT. 22: MERIDEN, CT – Two adults and nine children were displaced by a two-alarm fire in a two-family house. The suspected cause was electrical in nature.

OCT. 24: CHESAPEAKE, VA – Three dogs, four cats, two birds, at least seven ferrets and an iguana perished in a house fire; one dog was unharmed and firefighters revived a cat. The residents, two adults and a child, were not home.

OCT. 30: HAMDEN, CT – Police officered rescued a mother and her two small children, and carried a wheelchair-bound woman to safety after fire broke out in an apartment complex. Fire marshals were investigating a possible connection between the fire and the restoration of power to the building, which was knocked out during Hurricane Sandy. Ten police officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

Thanks to contributors: David Bowen, Donald E. Brady and Charles Losaw.