Officials investigate fatal fire

MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Township firefighters, the Trumbull County coroner and the state fire marshal are investigating a fire that killed a Depot Street woman.
Randy Pugh, Weathersfield Township fire chief, said Dan Hapsic escaped out a second-story window and attempted to re-enter the house at 1392 Depot Street several times, but could not save his wife, 34-year-old Bridget. Her body was later found in a downstairs bathroom, Pugh said.
Pugh said there was fire in a majority of the house and flames were coming through the windows and the front door when firefighters arrived around 4 a.m. Sunday.
He said Dan Hapsic thought his wife was in the living room at the time of the fire because she would often wake up during the night and go downstairs and watch television. Pugh said Hapsic tried to go back into the house through the front door, but was pushed back several times by the flames.
Dan Hapsic was treated for minor burns at the scene, Pugh said. There were no other injuries reported.
Firefighters think the fire started in the kitchen but have not determined a cause. Pugh did not have a loss estimate but thinks it is more than the $65,000 covered by the insurance policy.
He said 28 firefighters responded from the township's three stations. The last trucks returned to their stations around noon Sunday, he said.