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The blaze broke out in Stamford around 4:10 .m., Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 42 Custer St.
The fire was discovered when Stamford 911 received a call from a neighbor reporting a fire alarm going off in an adjacent apartment and they could smell smoke, said Stamford Deputy Fire Chief Eric Lorenz.
Engine 6 from the Glenbrook Fire House was the first to arrive and reported “nothing showing” from the exterior of the building, Lorenz said.
Moments after arriving, crew members were approached by a hysterical woman who said she was the occupant of the apartment and that her children were still inside, Lorenz added.
Firefighters opened the front door to the unit and were met by heavy smoke condition from floor to ceiling and immediately entered the unit to perform a search for the missing children and to locate the fire, he said.
Lorenz said the two children, ages 2 and 3 years old, were quickly located semi-conscious lying on the floor of the second-level bedroom.
The children were removed to the exterior where they received life-saving emergency medical care from responding firefighters and paramedics.
The small fire located on the kitchen stove top was quickly extinguished without incident. No fire, smoke, or water damage affected the adjacent living units. No firefighters were injured fighting the fire, Lorenz said.
“Tonight, the brave actions of our first arriving firefighters resulted in the successful rescue of two children," Lorenz said. "Those actions coupled with immediate life-saving resuscitative efforts by our fire and EMS personnel ended this incident with a positive outcome.”
The Stamford Fire Marshal’s Office and the Stamford Police Department are investigating the cause of the fire.
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