By Michelle Tuccitto
The New Haven Register

WEST HAVEN, Conn. — A three-alarm fire destroyed a multi-family house on Park Street Sunday morning. Deputy Fire Chief Scott Schwartz said everyone inside at the time was able to escape without injury, but seven firefighters were sent to the hospital for treatment for ailments ranging from a shoulder injury to dehydration to exhaustion.

Firefighters were summoned to the house at 309 Park St. house at 10:09 a.m. and found heavy fire on one side of the building when they arrived, Schwartz said. A wall collapsed to the rear of the house, and apartments on all three floors were affected by the fire. The fire was finally brought under control shortly after noon, he said.

The fire was initially reported as a dryer fire, but the cause remains under investigation, Schwartz said. It started on the first floor.

Schwartz described the building as "destroyed" and uninhabitable. If residents can't stay with relatives, then officials planned to contact the American Red Cross to help find temporary housing for them. People were living in apartments on the first and third floor of the building, but the second floor apartment was vacant and undergoing renovations, Schwartz said.

The owner of the building, who doesn't live there, was on the scene, but she declined to comment.

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