Fire Victims Recovering

By Andrew Gorosko

The prompt actions of a woman to rouse four others who had been asleep in her Overlook Drive home where a fire broke out late on the night of March 22 reduced the potential extent of their fire-related injuries, according to Fire Marshal Bill Halstead.

At about 11:12 pm, while sleeping in a room on the ground level of her two-story home at 4 Overlook Drive, Marjorie Kopsco, 63, heard a noise and awoke from her sleep, Mr Halstead said.

“She heard a roaring sound…She saw a large glow, a wall of fire,” he said.

Realizing that a fire was raging in the nearby living room, Ms Kopsco went upstairs to alert four people who were sleeping there — her husband, Kenneth, 63; their daughter, Carol LaFreniere, 35, and Ms LaFreniere’s two children, Jacob, 9, and Laurie, 5, Mr Halstead said. Ms Kopsco also placed a 911 call to firefighters.

All five people were outside of the house when firefighters arrived at the scene. Ms Kopsco, however, had leapt from a second-story window. She suffered fractures in both legs in the fall. She was admitted to Danbury Hospital. She was released from the hospital on March 29. Mr Halstead said Ms Kopsco will be recuperating from her injuries at Bethel Health Care.

Mr Kopsco was listed in good condition in Bridgeport Hospital on the morning of March 30. His release from the hospital might occur later that day, a hospital spokesman said. 

After the fire, Mr Kopsco had been listed in critical condition in the hospital’s burn care unit.

Mr Kopsco apparently received burns on his hands when he came into contact with metallic objects in the house, Mr Halstead said. Mr Kopsco stood by in the home to ensure that the others escaped the blaze, the fire marshal added. 

Mr Halstead described the blaze as the worst residential fire in town during the past several years, in terms of the injuries received by the victims.

Mr Halstead said the accidental fire started near a fireplace in the living room of the Kopsco residence. Earlier that night, there had a been a fire in the fireplace.

Mr Halstead said the cause of the blaze remains unclear and the fire investigation is continuing. “The exact origin is unclear…We may never know exactly what caused the fire,” he said.

Initial damage estimates of $80,000 to $100,000 probably will increase, Mr Halstead said. A fire investigator for the Kopsco’s insurance carrier also is probing the blaze, he added. The house is reparable.

“[Ms Kopsco’s] actions were very important to everyone’s getting out of that building,” Mr Halstead noted.

After the fire, Ms LaFreniere and her two children reportedly were checked for possible smoke inhalation at Danbury Hospital.

About 40 firefighters from Newtown Hook & Ladder, Hawleyville, and Sandy Hook responded to the Overlook Drive house fire.

One Hook & Ladder firefighter, who lives near the fire scene, drove directly to the blaze and used pressurized water fire extinguishers for an initial attack on the fire.

The entire living room and its contents were afire when the fire companies arrived.