Moments after the family came running from the home, flames flared in the upstairs.
WILTON – A boy who got up to get some water after waking in the middle of the night with dry mouth ended up saving his family, and much of his home, from a fierce fire.
The younger son of Lisa and Barry Henry of 733 Weld Road in Wilton, woke up just before 3 a.m. Monday and went downstairs to get a drink of water.
As he was coming back up the stairs, he noticed smoke pouring from his bedroom, said Sonny Dunham, acting co-chief for the Wilton Fire Department.
The boy quickly ran to wake his parents, who were sleeping in their first-floor bedroom, who then woke his older brother sleeping upstairs.
Dunham said he arrived within a few minutes of the call, just moments after the family came running out of the home.
Moments later, flames flared in the upstairs, which was fully engulfed within seconds.
Between 12 and 15 firefighters from the Wilton department responded.
Mutual aid was called in from East Dixfield, which brought a tanker, a pumper and around eight firefighters, and from Jay, which brought a pumper and Dunham guessed eight men as well.
It took about an hour to get the licking flames under control, the co-chief added.
The short battle firefighters waged was considered an expedient one, given the circumstances, Dunham said, adding that he considered the incident a great save.
Not only were temperatures icy, but chemically treated pine in the large, opened high-ceiling wooden home meant “there was a lot of potential fuel in there,” he said.
“It could have gone up very easily, but the department did a real great job,” Dunham explained.
No one was injured in the blaze, and the family’s two cats got out safe. One escaped out an open door and the other was rescued by a firefighter.
The boy’s bedroom was considered a total loss. An adjoining bathroom and the parents’ bedroom below his room sustained significant water damage. There was also considerable smoke damage throughout the home, which was insured, Dunham said.
Electricity to the home was shut off.
Dunham said at this point, the home is not livable.
The family was taken to the fire station where its insurance company and the Red Cross were contacted. Dunham said he believes the four will be staying with family in Jay.
The fire is believed to have started in the young boy’s bedroom when an electrical cord linking the television to the wall shorted out and sent a spark onto some paper lying on the floor, which ignited.
The Wilton Fire Department cleared the scene by 7 a.m.; Dunham said he left around 8 a.m.
The co-chief said the family was fortunate their son awoke with a dry mouth, probably caused by smoke inhalation. “He was a lucky boy. Very lucky,” Dunham said. “The boy really saved the day.”
sdepoy@sunjournal.com
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