Fairfield Firefighters Rescue Unconscious Man From Smoke-Filled Apartment

FAIRFIELD, CT – Fairfield firefighters rescued an unconscious 30-year-old man from his smoke-filled apartment on Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters responded to a two-unit building located at 275/277 Jennings Road at about 1:15 p.m. after tenants on the first floor reported that a smoke alarm was activated on the second floor.

Crews arrived on the scene within three minutes to find smoke coming from the second-floor windows. The first-floor tenants had evacuated the building and met firefighters outside with their pets, according to Assistant Chief Scott R. Bisson.

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Firefighters entered the second-floor apartment to find heavy smoke conditions throughout. While performing a search for victims and the source of the fire, firefighters found an unconscious man in a smoke filled bedroom.

The man was confused, difficult to awaken and unaware of what was happening, according to Bisson.

He was quickly assisted out of the building and medical care initiated by fire personnel on scene while awaiting an ambulance form AMR.

With a further search of the apartment, firefighters located a small fire on the stove that was quickly extinguished and no additional victims or pets inside the building.

Fire personnel ventilated the building and monitored the atmosphere to ensure no hazardous gases were present. AMR transported the man to Bridgeport Hospital for smoke exposure and evaluation.

“The presence of a working smoke detector and the quick actions of the downstairs tenant calling 911 truly saved a life today,” Bisson said in a press release. “Small fires can create a lot of smoke that can be more deadly than the fire itself to sleeping occupants.

“With daylight savings time this past weekend, this is a good reminder for all residents to make sure that they changed their batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure they will alert you to a problem.”

The fire damage was confined to the stove area. The two-family house remained habitable and the downstairs tenants were allowed to reoccupy after ventilation of the whole house to remove residual smoke and fire gases.