Crime & Safety
Small Dog Likely Perished in Wallingford House Fire
Fire officials said they conducted several searches for a three-pound dog that was reportedly inside the house on Dutton Street, but were unable to find it.
While the three occupants of 18 Dutton St. were fortunately not home when a massive fire ripped through their house on Tuesday, it appears that a dog in the house may not have survived.
Wallingford Fire Shift Commander Jim Duffy said officials received reports that there was a small, three-pound dog on the second floor of the house, but after firefighters searched all three floors multiple times the dog was never found.
“We checked the whole building and we found nothing,” Duffy said.
Duffy said the dog is presumed dead, given the fact that the fire is believed to have started on the second floor toward the front of the two-family house. Given how severe the fire was — flames were reportedly heavy when responders arrived around 2 p.m. — the odds of anyone surviving the blaze are very slim, Duffy said.
The cause is still under investigation by the Fire Marshal's Office, however Duffy said a that could be determined as early as Wednesday afternoon. Wallingford Patch will report on the cause as soon as it’s available.
As pictures of the scene show, the second and third floors sustained considerable damage, however no tenants occupied the third floor, Duffy said.
Duffy also said he wanted to clarify a report in The Record-Journal about a hydant on the scene running out of water. He said the department chose to attach to a hydrant farther away from the house because it was on a main street and the water main was larger than the hydrant closer to the house.
The larger water main meant a greater volume of water, which would have been needed given the severity of the fire, Duffy said.
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