Man, 2 dogs escape Plainville house fire

The man’s two Great Danes ran away after the fire, with one found several hours later.

PLAINVILLE, Conn. — A house fire in Plainville Wednesday evening left a man displaced after he escaped the flames with his two dogs.

The homeowner was taken to the hospital as a precaution and is now staying with relatives. He likely won’t be able to move back in for about six months.

Neighbors said the fire on James Place got out of control quickly and the man who lived inside was lucky to get out. Intense flames engulfed part of the home at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Neighbor Eric Crane said, “We actually just got home last night and saw flames coming through the woods area. We noticed it was a large high flame. Pretty visible. So we walked down to check and make sure our neighbors were okay.”

Plainville Fire Marshal Ronald Dievert added, “On arrival there was heavy fire from the bonus space above the garage. The house is heavily damaged.”

Fire crews weren’t the first ones on scene. Several neighborhood teens spotted the danger and ran toward it.

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“They actually saw it,” Dievert said. “They took a couple of Snapchat videos just to give us a heads up of what it looked like in advance. They ran down and knocked on the door and helped the gentleman with one of the dogs.”

Two Great Danes escaped the home along with the man who lived there. The dogs ran away but at least one of them was found several hours later.

“There were two Great Danes. One has been recovered and as of this morning when I left the scene there was still one in the neighborhood that we couldn’t retrieve,” Dievert explained.

Crews worked on boarding up the partially-charred house Thursday. A restoration team was charged with securing the home from further water damage. It’s still not clear what caused the fire. Neighbors said they are just glad the flames didn’t spark a brush fire, or explode a nearby propane tank.

“We have an area that has a lot of leaves as you can see on the ground so that’s one thing that the neighbors were worried about as well as having propane on the street not knowing what can happen with a fire that large,” Crane said.

The fire marshal noted that the homeowner tried to extinguish the fire himself and that he wants the public to know that is never a good idea. People should always get out and call the fire department.

Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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