West Hartford home left uninhabitable after blaze

A home on the corner of High Wood and Mountain roads in West Hartford is uninhabitable after a fire there Monday morning, the fire chief said.

Firefighters responded to 3 High Wood Rd. at 9:16 a.m. after receiving phone calls of smoke coming from the home beginning at 9:11 a.m., Fire Chief Gregory Priest said.

Responding firefighters said the only person at home was outside when they arrived.

Faith Brown, in a bathrobe standing in the doorway of a home next door, told The Courant she lit a candle in her bedroom before beginning to make breakfast for herself Monday morning. She said she saw the match used to light the candle fall on the bedroom floor, but it appeared the flame was out.

While she worked to make her breakfast on the stove, she heard the smoke alarm. She said she looked down at the pot on the stove and noticed the water hadn't yet come to a boil. She went back to her bedroom and saw fire, ran to the kitchen, got the pot of water and threw it on the flames but said it wasn't enough. She went back to the kitchen for more water and that wasn't enough. She ran out to the street, saw a neighbor walking a dog and told her to call 911, Brown said.

She ran back into the house to get her phone, but the smoke in the bedroom was too much, she said.

Brown said she has lived there for about a year with her boyfriend and cat. Firefighter/ paramedic Peter O'Hara retrieved the cat from a basement and brought it to her.

Priest said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, and that the department is working with the town's social services to find somewhere for the couple and cat to stay.