Wallingford firefighters encountered a number of issues while attacking a fire at an apartment complex Wednesday afternoon.
The fire quickly spread to three floors and the attic which presented a challenge to firefighters.
“That's where the difficulty in these types of buildings lies. They're open attics, they do have firewalls on each end. But these buildings are approximately 60 years old and the firewalls we found to be compromised,” Wallingford Fire Chief Joe Czentnar explained to Fox61 reporters.
The fire chief said one of the apartments had hoarding conditions, and some oxygen tanks also caught fire adding fuel to the fire.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
Residents credit a mail carrier for alerting them about the fire.
“I told him, I said you're basically a hero and he laughed. I was like, No, really. You got everybody out, like the animals were darting out you got everybody out of the building,” said Jill Sault who lives in a neighboring building.
