Four families displaced in early morning New London house fire; cat dies
New London — Six people from four families were displaced after an early Saturday morning fire damaged a multi-unit house at 450 Montauk Ave. in New London.
No one was hurt in the incident, although one cat died and another was rescued, said New London Fire Department Battalion Chief Keith Nichols.
Around 4:40 a.m. a downstairs tenant in the home awoke to lights outside, thinking they were flashing lights from a police car.
Instead, Nichols said, it was actually the flickering flames from the fire on the second floor.
The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, and the cause of the incident and the extent of the damage have not yet been determined, Nichols said.
Sixteen New London firefighters and the assistance and search team from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton responded to the blaze.
The American Red Cross provided aid to the families, providing comfort kits and other emergency items, as well as packets of information helpful to families recovering from a fire.
r.koster@theday.com
Twitter: @rickattheday
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
