Crime & Safety

Victim Identified in Fatal House Fire in Suffield

The Wednesday night blaze engulfed the house at 1849 Mapleton Ave.

Fire officials have confirmed the identity of the woman who perished in a raging house fire Wednesday night on Mapleton Avenue.

Fire Capt. Michael Thibedeau said Christina White, 29, was found dead on the second floor of the house several hours after the fire at 1489 Mapleton Ave. was reported at 6:57 p.m.

White's mother, Patricia Sikes, was on the first floor of the two-story home and escaped through the front door, neighbors said. She remains hospitalized with undisclosed injuries.

White's boyfriend, Paul Witek, got out of the house when a neighbor rushed across the street with a ladder. He was treated at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and then released.

Thibedeau said the blaze began on the first floor of the clapboard-walled home, built in 1915, and quickly spread to the second floor. He added the cause of the fire is still undetermined, but that no foul play is suspected.

White worked for more than 10 years at the Valero gas and convenience store at the corner of Route 159 and Thompsonville Road. 

In an email to Suffield Patch, Valero employee Rocky Calsetta said White was a close friend and his manager at the store.

"As you can imagine, her passing comes as a great loss to not only those close to her, as she was the kindest person in the entire world, but also the community, as she has been at the gas station for more than 10 years," Calsetta wrote. 

A container has been placed on the counter at the Valero store for donations to help cover the costs of White's funeral and to help her family, "as they have lost everything," Calsetta wrote.


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