Fire in Connecticut apartment complex leaves 150 homeless

No deaths had been confirmed, but Fire Chief Ken Scandariato said he couldn't rule out that some residents might not have escaped.

He said Saturday morning that 105 of the estimated 150 residents of the Peachtree Garden Apartments had been located. Some may have gone to stay with friends and relatives, he said, adding: "It's a question right now. It's in question."

The wreckage was still too hot by late morning to allow the use of arson dogs or cadaver dogs, Scandariato said, and officials expected to be at the scene until at least Sunday afternoon.

Fire and police officials were not giving updates Saturday afternoon. The cause of the fire remained unclear, but officials were treating the blaze as suspicious, said Mayor Benjamin Lathrop.

The fire was reported at 1:30 a.m. in a 12-building apartment complex with a common roof. Two of the buildings were fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived and tenants were calling for help, Scandariato said.

Firefighters and police officers ran door to door to alert anyone still inside, he said.

Alarms were working but the complex didn't have a sprinkler system because that wasn't required when it was built in 1976. The entire structure was engulfed in flames within minutes, and all but about eight of 120 apartments were destroyed.

"It got ahead of us," Scandariato said. "It was just too much fire to mount an attack to stop it."