Investigators spent much of Friday combing through a house fire that killed a man just after 4 a.m.
“And the next thing you know, it was the alarms of the firemen and police and everything,” said Jeffrey Hodnicki, who lives across the street.
Relatives identified the victim as Claude Cyr, 64, who was discovered in a front living room. According to family members, Cyr’s daughter and another relative made it out unhurt. They say his brother was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
The family owned Cyr Brothers Roofing for many years.
“The police have let everybody know that it's an investigation,” Hodnicki said. “They won't tell anybody anything.”
A police incident commander said that an initial search turned up nothing suspicious, but the Connecticut State Police arson squad was called in to assist. The chief medical examiner arrived just after 1 p.m.
The victim's mother owns this house, but she was out of town when the fire broke out, relatives said.
“I would try and help them as we should,” Hodnicki said. “I mean, we get along with our with our neighbors.”
The family hopes to get back into the house on Saturday to retrieve their late grandfather’s ashes.