Dogs Die in Cheshire House Fire

A house fire on Upson Place at the Cheshire and Southington town line has claimed the lives of two dogs and displaced a family after tearing through the two-story structure just after noon on Tuesday.

None of the residents were home when the fire started, officials said, but flames and smoke were too much for the family’s two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels; both succumbed to smoke inhalation despite efforts to resuscitate them.

“Our guys arrived on scene and immediately spoke with the homeowner, who told them her dogs were trapped inside,” said Southington Fire Chief Harold L. Clark. “We located them quickly and were able to get them out but after using oxygen and performing CPR on the animals for an extended period, we were unable to revive them," he said.

The fire was reported to be in the first floor of the home, a two-story, single-family home in Cheshire located right along the town line. The home is located toward the end of a no-outlet road just off of Marion Avenue.

Homeowner Beth Miller arrived shortly after the fire was reported and saw the smoke bellowing from the backside of the home, said neighbor and friend Ruth Stanley, but Miller was not able to enter because the first floor was already too hot.

Miller was not able to comment as she sat outside the home crying over the death of her dogs named Murphy and Reese.

“She’s heartbroken. She loved those dogs and treated them like she did her own kids,” said Stanley, who lives across the street in the Marion section of Southington. “She was out just this morning with them. I saw her pass with her dogs around 7 a.m. It really makes you think about your own pets and what you would do if you lost something you loved.”

Fire officials said the fire was first reported by a passerby traveling west along Interstate 84 near the home. The caller, an unidentified female, said she could see smoke coming from the home and fire officials arrived to see flames showing from the back of the house, Clark said.

Cheshire and Southington firefighters said the fire started in the kitchen area of the home. Both Clark and Cheshire Fire Chief Jack Casner were unable to comment on the investigation or exact cause Tuesday afternoon. 

American Red Cross officials were assisting Miller and awaiting the return of her husband Kevin Myjack. The couple had lived in the home with two of their three children but the family was expected to stay with neighbors because the home suffered heavy damage, officials said.

Firefighters were forced to break windows and remove the front door in order to combat flames and vent the home. Charring showed along the  roof line and Clark said the inside of the home suffered “both heavy smoke and fire damage.”

The response was a difficult one for firefighters, who battled breezy conditions and initially struggled to get enough water pressure due to the distance from the center of town, Clark said.

Firefighters were forced to call the Southington Water Department to have them reroute pressure in order to properly fight back flames. 

“It’s one of those situations where you are just too far from the main source,” Clark said. “They responded instantly and we were able to run a number of hoses to fight this from all angles.”

Cheshire Animal Control took the dogs to a nearby veterinarian, neighbors said, and would be held there until the family had a chance to recover from the trauma. The fire remains under investigation through the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department.