Feb. 28—MYSTIC — A man was injured when he tried to put out a house fire that took crews seven hours to completely extinguish, the fire chief said Friday.
The Hatch Street house was destroyed, Chief Chris Clarkin said.
It took firefighters three hours to knock down the flames, Clarkin said. Photos show fire on all levels of the house, which partially collapsed.
The fire was reported shortly before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, he said. Stonington police officers got there first and found a resident trying to put out the fire; they told him to get out and he did, the chief said. The man was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries.
Firefighters got out of the house and fought the flames from the outside because of hoarding conditions and that caused some problems, Clarkin said. They used two ladder trucks to rain water down onto the house and into the windows.
Although the fire was knocked down by 8:30 p.m., firefighters continued to find smoldering hotspots in the rubble, Clarkin said, and were still at the scene at 12:30 a.m. Friday, he said.
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Electrical wires were cut during the fire, resulting in a loss of power in the neighborhood, Clarkin said. In addition, firefighters were using so much water that some sprinkler alarms in the area activated.
Firefighters from Old Mystic Fire Department, Ledyard Fire Co., Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department in Groton and the submarine base in Groton helped battle the blaze. In all, there were 10 trucks and about 50 firefighters at the scene, he said.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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