Officials Release Name of Enfield Fire Victim

ENFIELD, CT — Fire officials have identified the woman who died Tuesday morning following a raging fire that consumed the Pearl Street home she shared with her sister last Friday.

Joyce Roth, 72, initially escaped on her own from the burning house, but passed away at Bridgeport Hospital four days later due to complications, Deputy Fire Marshal Ed Shirley said.

Her sister, Marcia Jarosz, who owns the house at 255 Pearl Street, is fine, Shirley said. The home has been deemed uninhabitable, and Jarosz is staying with friends, he added.

An official cause of Roth's death has not yet been determined, but Enfield Fire Chief Ed Richards said he believes "exposure to superheated toxic products of combustion" may have been a contributing factor.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, but Shirley said he has determined it was accidental.

According to an obituary from Leete-Stevens Enfield Chapels, Roth had been a college professor at Eastern Connecticut State University and Quinnipiac University, among others, and also did cancer research at the University of Connecticut.

Calling hours are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 9 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home on South Road. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. at St. Adalbert Church on Alden Avenue, followed by burial in St. Adalbert Cemetery.

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