WINDHAM— A house fire destroyed a log cabin Sunday morning on Jerusalem Road in Windham, leaving two adults and their dog without a home.
It was a three-alarm fire, a major emergency, according to FOX61. A three-alarm fire indicates that additional resources or personnel are needed.
According to the homeowners, they had been trying to put a log into their wood stove. When it didn’t fit, they put the log on their front porch, expecting it to put out what embers remained. It is believed that the fire started from there, setting the front porch a flame, Windham Center Fire Chief Stanley Maclure said to FOX61.
According to the fire chief, the homeowners called for help around 4 a.m. and were able to evacuate the house before first responders arrived on the scene. When the firefighters arrived, the front porch was completely engulfed in flames and the fire had started spreading to a car. The fire chief said by the time water hit the home, the fire had already spread to half of the house.
About 40 to 50 emergency personnel from around 14 other departments and agencies responded to the scene alongside the Windham Center Fire Department.
It took over an hour for first responders to have the fire under control and another hour to extinguish the fire, according to NBC Connecticut.
At one point, the home began collapsing onto itself, which created hot spots in areas that firefighters could not reach. Firefighters later addressed those areas. Chief Maclure said that the house is completely destroyed, deeming it uninhabitable, and that there wasn’t much of anything salvageable inside.
Emergency services remained on the property until the afternoon due to the log cabin structure collapsing which kept Jerusalem Road shut down.
No injuries were reported, but the couple was taken to a rehab ambulance where they were then tended to with precautionary measures, according to the fire chief.
In a Facebook post, the Windham Center Fire Department declared that they had to cancel their annual memorial ceremony due to the house fire and the departments’ ongoing operational response.
When FOX61 went to talk to the couple about the fire, the couple’s daughter said they were too shaken to speak about it and that they are staying with family for now.
Both the Windham Social Services director and the American Red Cross are helping the displaced family. The American Red Cross provided personal care kits to the couple and plans to work with the couple on a long-term recovery plan.
Connecticut State Police had also responded to the scene and discovered several firearms inside the home. They were then taken by the police, according to FOX61.
The fire marshal told FOX61 he is continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.