Six people were displaced after a fire ripped through the back part of a Meriden home Wednesday.
No one was injured when the blaze caught hold caught hold at 18 Sylvester St. just after 12:15 p.m., although the fire was so powerful at one point that the Meriden Fire Department responded with multiple firefighters, four engines and a ladder truck, said Deputy Fire Chief David M. Bowen.
The American Red Cross is assisting the six occupants who live in the home, Bowen said.
The property abuts the back entrance to Francis T. Maloney High School, and when the blaze was first reported Officer Brendan Connolly, the Meriden school resource officer stationed at the school, was the first to respond, Bowen said.
He said when the fire department arrived, the back part of the house was heavily on fire, with smoke billowing from the property. The fire was originally centered on the first floor, but it eventually travelled to the second floor where it burned a portion of the roof, Bowen said.
The house suffered severe smoke and fire damage, he said.
No cause has been determined and the fire still remains under investigation, Bowen said.
