The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-10-26

(COntlnueQ rom FdSS 1'J
 end Mrs Alessandro DeSocio, with their ten children, fled safely from fhe building, as did MT Oriente with 8 second child of his family, an 11-year- old boy. Mrs Oriente, as the building was being swept with the flames, picked up three-year- %old Richard, who is still seriously i'll and carried him down the stairs to safety.
 Occupants of the house tried in vain to save valuables, clothing and Furniture before firemen arrived. Hundreds of spectators gathered to Xwatch the fire being fought by ire linen directed by Acting Deputy Martin Campion.
 Motor patrolmen were rushed to the scene when police headquart- CTS was notified of the fire and they 8cleared the street in case it should be necessary to call for more ap- paratus. More than dozen tele- phone alarms for the fire were re- ceived at fire headquarters.
 The building was only partly cov- ered by insurance. Furniture insur- ance. take out by MT DeSocio, ex- pired a few months ago and was not renewed.
 Fire Marshals Statement " Yle fire marshal today said: This fire started in the rear porch, ap- sparently under the first floor stair way. by the penetration of the fire in this landing, as we observed and Studied it. Little Rosie DeSocio, II. s&had come in the rear way to her <hone, from the store, and says that eyerything apparently was all right when she entered by that way. The other DeSocio children were all in the house ready for supper, it was claimed today, while MT and Mrs Or1ente and their two children were lin their apartment when they smelled smoke, and saw a little Hfiame breaking through from the Stairway to the Kitchen in the west side of the house. They picked up their two children, one of whom small boy, only recently had un- dergone a third serious operation, and left by way of the main stair <way on the north side.
 "Both families used oil in their oranges, but the drums were located { in the cellar, not on the verandas. which would be a violation of the fire code. if such were the fact. v But the rapidity with which the fiames moved is rather puzzling, in View of the closeness of the fam ilfes to the scene of the fire. The Families deny the stairway was in |Eanyway oil soaked, but our experi- ence in the use of fuel oil in { &houses, prove otherwise. Seldom do we find house where fuel oil is a'sused without oil stains along the Fsstairway.
 Then, too, at this time of the year the Halloween spirit is in progress among the young people, 'knad nearly every neighborhood is <b0thered by the ringing of bells, by crowds of young people bent on a $celebratfon in advance of the actual ;edate. Many of these young persons #carry lighted candles and also elighted lanterns.
 The owner and his tenant have been residents of Waterbury for many years. They are good hard working people; they could not ex- ssplain for any i'll feeling from any %person, so that the possibility of a set fire on this account, we can 2 not consider. Besides no incendiary Afire would be started at such an & early hour, especially under the 2F 2Fcircumstances as related.
 Tn conclusion, we feel it was ~an unintentional act on the part sof some children or Halloween k kcelebrators. Something went wrong, Wherein oil or some such inflam- mable were used, not with criminal Intent, and the fire resulted"
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