Volunteer Connecticut firefighter hailed as hero for quick action after spotting house fire

A volunteer firefighter in Connecticut is being hailed as a hero for waking up a house full of people and pets when he spotted a house fire while he was out plowing snow, officials said.

Shaun Bogen, a highway maintenance worker and volunteer firefighter with the Long Hill Fire Company in southwestern Connecticut, was plowing roads in Trumbull around 4 a.m. on Sunday when he saw a garage on fire on his route, according to the Long Hill Fire Company.

Bogen alerted his base of the fire and called 911 before racing to wake up the four sleeping people inside and help get them and their three dogs to safety, the agency said.

It took responding fire crews an hour to bring the spreading blaze under control.

The Trumbull Fire Marshall's Office was investigating the fire. No injuries were reported.

Volunteer firefighter recounts spotting garage fire

Bogen told WTNH-TV that he "ran to the front door and started banging," after he alerted authorities of the situation.

“I think the mother woke up, met me at the door, and as you’d expect at 3:30 in the morning to be shocked, ‘Your house is on fire.’ ‘What?’ ‘Your house is currently on fire!'” Bogen told the news station.

The firefighter said that as everyone was leaving the house, smoke alarms started going off.

Bogen said that he did not have "a lot of thought" at the time but focused on taking action.

"The 15 years of training (as a volunteer firefighter), it was just kind of, ‘OK. People in the house. Get people out of house. Get what we need to the scene,'" Bogen told the station.

Fire damage limited to garage thanks to fast response

Long Hill Chief Greg Sanfanandre told the CT Post that the department was able to respond quickly to the situation because the fire stations were already staffed because of a powerful winter storm.

Sanfanandre told the newspaper that the home's garage was engulfed in flames when he arrived and "appeared to be extending into the home through the attic."

Fire crews on the scene responded immediately and while the home ended up with significant smoke damage, the fire damage was limited only to the garage, he said.

The Long Hill Fire Company, a fully volunteer service, operates in Long Hill and Trumbull, about 25 miles east of New Haven.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.