Father Rescues Daughter From Roof Of Burning Pine Orchard House: Chief

BRANFORD, CT — Just after 6 p.m. Tuesday on a beautiful early autumn evening, a father and his adult daughter were relaxing on the second-floor deck of their 18 Totoket Road house in Pine Orchard.

According to Branford Fore department Chief Tom Mahoney, an odor of smoke was coming from inside the home. The door to the inside of the home was closed. The father went to investigate and soon saw smoke.

He ran for a fire extinguisher and began trying to extinguish the fire, but, Mahoney said, it could not be controlled. And, he could not get back to his daughter, the fire chief said, as she was still outside on the deck.

The father sprang into action. He retrieved a ladder for his daughter to climb down to safety from the roof of the house, Mahoney said. The father, who had already suffered minor injuries, rescued his daughter, who was not injured physically, the fire chief said.

"She would not have been able to get off otherwise," Mahoney said, as her "path was blocked by the fire."

Firefighters made quick work of the blaze and were able to knock it down "pretty quickly," Mahoney said. He added that the house suffered significant fire damage to the second floor and water damage to the first.

Mahoney said the cause of the fire, was has for now made the house inhabitable, is under investigation.

"It's under investigation due to the significant amount of damage, and we think we've found the area of origin possibly," he said. He added that the cause of the fire may end up as undetermined, as there are myriad electrical sources.

Engine 1 from Branford Fire headquarters as well as engines from Stony Creek responded with Guilford Fire department also available for mutual aid.

"Most people don't have an appreciation for how fast a fire can spread," Mahoney said.

This hero dad does now.