East Hartford officers hospitalized after rescuing dozens of residents from apartment fire

Two East Hartford police officers were taken to the hospital early Monday after they helped rescue dozens of people from a burning apartment building, including a woman in a wheelchair who had to be carried down multiple flights of stairs in heavy smoke conditions.

Police were dispatched to 50 Hillside St. just after midnight for a welfare check and found heavy smoke coming from the first floor of the apartment building, according to the East Hartford Police Department. Police said the fire was unrelated to the initial call for service.

Officers radioed in help from firefighters and immediately started getting residents out of the building and to safety, East Hartford police said. Police entered the building despite heavy smoke conditions and rescued dozens of residents.

One woman, confined to a wheelchair, had to be carried down multiple flights of stairs before the officers who assisted her ran back into the building to help others get out, according to police.

“All residents were safely evacuated from the building due to the exceptional bravery of the officers on scene,” East Hartford Officer Marc Caruso said in a statement.

Firefighters found flames in the basement and quickly put them out after arriving on the scene, police said.

Two police officers were treated at Saint Francis Hospital for smoke inhalation following the rescue efforts. Both were released and able to continue their shift, police said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.