Norwich — As contractors boarded up windows and doors at 3 and 11 Oak St. around 6 p.m. Monday, Maureen Davis gathered her belongings and prepared to leave.

A fast-moving fire in a vacant, condemned house at 7-9 Oak St., which burned to the ground overnight, had spread to two adjacent apartment buildings, including Davis' at 3 Oak St. She'd lived there for eight years.

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 1:15 a.m. Monday. The cause remains unknown and is under investigation, according to Norwich fire Battalion Chief Tracy Montoya.

"My landlord said we have to be out for three months," Davis said as she prepared to leave the neighborhood for her first night at the Comfort Suites in Yantic, which the American Red Cross was paying for. "I'm trying to find somewhere else. I have no choice."

The Foxwoods Resort Casino call-center operator was one of what officials said were 27 people displaced by the early morning fire. No one was injured.

"It was so hot," Davis said. "Thank God we're alive."

The city's human services director, Beverly Goulet, said most of the displaced families do not have friends or family in the region to turn to for temporary housing. Her agency is helping 15 adults and two teenagers. The Red Cross has paid for food and two nights' lodging in local hotels.

Goulet said her agency will concentrate on extending the occupants' stay in temporary housing, finding permanent housing and replacing essentials, such as eye glasses, medicines and clothing. One man needed to go to work at Foxwoods Monday, and Norwich Human Services provided a gift card for him to buy clothes.

Davis said the organization had extended her hotel stay for a week.

"All these people are low-income or no income," Goulet said. "We're going to have to gather our resources to help them. We all know how well this community comes together to help in times like this."

'An orange glow of flames'

Ada Rivera, who lives at one of the damaged homes at 199-201 Franklin St., said she, her husband and grandson were awakened by screams that their house was on fire.

The Rivera family lived in one of three apartments in the building; a total of seven people lived there, she said.

"When I got out of the bedroom all I could see was an orange glow of flames coming from the window," said Rivera, who escaped wearing only her nightgown.

Rivera said that from the street, where she was standing, she could see that her kitchen and dining room were destroyed. She was not allowed to enter the dwelling to see the rest of the damage. She said she would be staying with friends and relatives until she found a new place to stay.

Pamelasue Hackley, who lives at 204 Franklin St., which is across the street from 199-201 Franklin St., said she could "feel the heat from the fire from the porch."

"People were screaming," Hackley said. "It was awful. I've never seen a fire like that. The flames were shooting up in the sky."

Rivera said the building at 7-9 Oak St., where the fire is believed to have started, has been vacant for years. "We would see homeless people coming in and out of there," she said. "You know they didn't belong there."

Police Sgt. Peter Camp said police had heard "that vagrants have frequented the home."

"That'll be something that we'll look into," Camp said.

Montoya said his department hasn't determined whether the condemned housewas occupied at the time of the fire.

Monday afternoon, Fire Inspector Jake Manke oversaw the demolition of 7-9 Oak St. It didn't take much nudging for the house to crumble to the ground. His job was to ensure the demolition was done safely and that no potential evidence was buried by the debris.

City Assistant Building Official Greg Arpin said the adjacent two houses were heavily damaged but did not require emergency demolition. They were ordered boarded up by Monday evening.

According to city building files, under previous owner Vijay Dave, two apartments in the vacant house at 7-9 Oak St. were condemned, one in October 2006 and the other in February 2007. The house then was taken over by Deutsch Bank before it was sold to current owners Yuan Tien Wen and Yu Yahua. The new owners took out a building permit for electrical work in November 2011.

'Everything I have is in there'

Norwich Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said fire crews could not enter 7-9 Oak St. when they first arrived at 1:15 a.m. Firefighters who entered the houses on either side in an attempt to contain the spreading flames were forced to quickly withdraw.

A utility pole in front of 7 Oak St. was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Power was knocked out for a large stretch of Boswell Avenue and on Oak, Hobart and parts of Franklin streets. At its height, about 1,000 Norwich Public Utilities customers were without power, said NPU Assistant General Manager Christopher LaRose.

By 10 a.m. power had been restored to all properties except those damaged by the fire. Gas was shut off to Oak Street for some hours, and Boswell Avenue and Oak Street were closed to traffic in the vicinity of the fire as all five Norwich volunteer departments lined the streets, with hoses stretched across the road.

The Red Cross sent 10 volunteers to open a reception center at Thames River Academy on East Main Street for the displaced families.

Brothers Armand and Robert Forand credited a fast-acting police officer, later identified as Officer Rod Cappiello, with saving their lives. They live at 191 Franklin St., which is adjacent to 199-201 Franklin St.. Their apartment sustained minor smoke and water damage.

"He practically knocked our door in," Armand Forand said of Cappiello. "He said there was fire and told us to get out."

Several other residents in the three-story house sat on a porch across the street watching the flames. They said all occupants got out safely.

Javier Manrique, 23, who lives on the third floor at 11 Oak St., stood across the street and watched as firefighters tried in vain to douse fire on the roof. Flames quickly caught the lower rear roof.

Manrique said he was sleeping and heard people yelling for everyone to get out of the house. "I got up, got dressed and got out in five minutes," he said. "Everything I have is in there. Everything."

c.bessette@theday.com

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How to help

Norwich Human Services is accepting donations of cash and gift cards for the displaced families but cannot accept clothing, furniture or household items.

Donations of cash and gift cards can be sent to Norwich Human Services, 80 Broadway, Norwich CT 06360. Checks should be made out to Norwich Human Services with the notation “Oak Street Fire.”

The Norwich City Council will be asked to support a resolution at Monday's meeting to set up a city account to collect donations for victims of the fire, as was done after previous city fires.