Aging electrical system blamed for house fire

MIDDLETOWN — A faulty electrical system was the cause of a blaze that consumed a two-family house in the North End of the city early Monday.

Fire crews were alerted to the incident at 91 Spring St. about 5:30 a.m. at the home occupied by 12 adults from the same family, according to Middletown Fire Chief Robert Kronenberger. There were no injuries.

The two-story, 2,024square-foot house built in 1899 sits on 0.14 acres, according to the property card.

“Video footage of the fire taken by a neighbor definitively showed the wiring going into the house was arcing from the outside,” Kronenberger said Tuesday. That cause was consistent with the fire marshal’s findings as to the origin, he added.

“They pulled the wiring in the cellar, and found a lot of knob-and-tube wiring — an older type electrical system — which had probably seen better days,” the chief said.

The blaze extended into the walls of the residence and possibly to the attic, due to the balloon frame construction of the residential home, Lt. William Unikewicz said Monday.

These types of homes with balloon frame structures, popular decades ago, have a gap between the interior and exterior walls and no fire barrier, which allows the flames to travel quickly to other floors.

“The rule of thumb is if a fire breaks out in a basement, the next place you look is the attic. If there is no fire there, you stop it between the first and second floor, before it hits the attic,” Kronenberger said.

The American Red Cross is helping the victims find alternative housing, according to the agency, as well as comfort kits with personal care items.

Contributed photo Firefighters fought to contain a fire that broke out at a two-family home inContributed Middletown early Monday.