Several Children Die in Connecticut House Fire

Several children died in a house fire that destroyed a two-family house in Somers, Conn., late Tuesday night, a town official said. Other residents were seriously hurt.

Tim Keeney, the town’s first selectman, told NBC Connecticut that he believed all of the children were from the same family.

“It’s an incredible loss,” he said, adding, “It’ll take us a long time to get over it.”

The Connecticut State Police confirmed that there were several fatalities.

Mr. Keeney told reporters that about 20 firefighters battled the blaze in Somers, a small community about 25 miles northeast of Hartford, Conn. The firefighters struggled to get into the house because there were things in front of the doors, he said.

The fire chief in Somers, John Roache, told reporters that one person jumped from the second floor during the fire. He said some people were taken to hospitals.

Mr. Roache said that the front of the house, located on Quality Avenue in Somers, was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived on the scene. The house, he said, would be a “total loss.”

“It spread very quickly,” he told WFSB in Hartford.