Norwich — A fire displaced three people on Wednesday and gutted the second floor of a two-family home at 56 Oak St.

Two firefighters were injured while battling the two-alarm blaze, which witnesses said started just minutes after Norwich Public Utilities finished reconnecting power to a second-floor apartment.

One firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion and the other was struck in the face by falling debris.

Norwich Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said the 2:22 p.m. call came in as a refrigerator fire.

City firefighters were out at the scene of an outside fire on Rogers Avenue at the time.

Smoke already was billowing from the second-floor windows, with flames shooting from the east side of the 2½-story building, when firefighters arrived.

Scandariato said firefighters were able to stop the spread of the fire to a nearby home just feet away. They also were able to retrieve Poncho, a chihuahua, found by firefighters on the third floor.

The home already was evacuated when firefighters arrived. One of the residents, who family members say is pregnant, was being evaluated at the scene by emergency medical personnel from American Ambulance.

It is unclear how many people were home at the time.

William Winston, a cousin of a displaced resident who he identified as Candace Downing, said he and other cousins were helping to move her belongings from the first floor to the second floor.

He said power was connected to the second floor by NPU and the refrigerator started making strange noises after it was plugged in. Winston said he and others had gone to the store and arrived back to find fire trucks and the road closed down.

“I’m just glad she made it out of there,” Winston said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the fire marshal’s office.

City firefighters were joined by East Great Plain, Laurel Hill, Yantic and Mohegan Tribal firefighters at the scene.

g.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay