“(Waite) has told police she hasn’t been in the house for a number of days prior to the fire started. It’s our position that it’s the victim who caused harm to herself,” Joseph Elder, Waite’s attorney, told the television station.
BREAKING: Fire and some kind of explosion at an apartment building on Charter Oak st in Hartford. @FOX61News the only station there as children and adults were rushed out of the building. We’ll be live with the latest details from 6-9am. pic.twitter.com/KRGzcEZ4p4
— Ashley Afonso (@AshleyAfonso) March 8, 2020
According to Hartford police, Waite lit a bottle of hand sanitizer during an argument and threw it at her girlfriend, WVIT reported. The fire then spread throughout the upper floors of the five-story building, the television station reported.
While emergency crews rescued several people, firefighters found the body of Jerome Kyser, 50, WVIT reported.
The medical examiner’s office said Kyser died from smoke inhalation, the television station reported.
1 Dead, Dozens Rescued From Fire at Hartford Apartment Building https://t.co/uwA7ZBe6wL pic.twitter.com/461wAiT2Ar
— Fluffy Firefighters 👩🚒🚒🚨🦆🐈🐢 (@FF_Fluffies) March 9, 2020
Two children and two adults were taken to an area hospital in critical condition, police said. At least 30 people were taken to area hospitals, WSFB reported. Sixty families were displaced because of the fire.
“When we looked out the door, you couldn’t see anything,” Yessenia Flores, a tenant, told the television station. “The smoke just took all the hallways, you couldn’t see nothing when you walked out the door.”
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