From the New London Day, my hometown has another fire of a beautiful old building. Luckily, no one died in this blaze. Another great job by the Norwich Fire Departments. It is so upsetting to me, to see another fire destroy a building I used to love, my hometown has such history, yes even though Benedict Arnold is from Norwich, CT I do love it..

My heart goes out to those people who are out of their homes and wish everyone well...


Norwich Fire Forces 30 From Their Homes
Central Avenue blaze injures one woman
By Katie Warchut Published on 12/1/2008

Norwich—A fire that tore apart a century-old Central Avenue building early Sunday morning forced more than 30 people from their homes, seriously injured one resident and briefly cut off power to approximately 5,000 city residents.

It also left Norwich Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato to reflect on recent destructive fires in the city.

“There's too many damn close calls,” he said, in front of the charred, smoldering building Sunday morning in the sleet and rain.

One of those close calls took place in April when an early morning fire destroyed the 120-unit Peachtree apartments but all the tenants escaped.

Sunday's blaze at 231 Central Ave. started around 2:30 a.m. in the Kelly building that housed the Sunshine Farms convenience store on the first floor.

A woman who lived in the building behind Sunshine Farms, Laverne Davis, said neighbors banging on doors woke her up. She thought her own building was on fire, until she saw flames pouring out of the building next door, which is almost close enough to touch. Davis was working at a nearby Laundromat Sunday morning, still in her pajamas.

Most residents had gotten out of the building on their own, Scandariato said, but firefighters still had to go into each room to ensure no one was inside.

Meanwhile, the fire was gathering steam, creating zero visibility inside.

One firefighter working on rescue efforts had gone into the third floor by a ladder, and fell as he was coming down, suffering minor injuries.

“The worst place to be is above a fire," Scandariato said.

Another firefighter inside ran out of air and suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. Both were sent to The William W. Backus Hospital where they were treated and released.

A second-floor resident was pulled from her bedroom to the kitchen area by her daughter, but had already suffered burns, Scandariato said. The elderly woman, who was brought to Backus and then flown by Life Star helicopter to Bridgeport Hospital, was critically injured, according to police, who did not release her name Sunday.

Around 55 firefighters fought the fast-moving blaze for around seven hours, Scandariato said.

Scandariato said he remembers seeing the Kelly building when he first came to Norwich and thinking “that's one hell of a building to fight a fire in.” He proved himself right.

A combination of factors created many challenges: the size of the brick building, its age and renovations, and having to use a water supply further down the street, he said. They even lost communications with their dispatchers when the power lines burned.

“It was just too big for us,” he said.

The fire that caught on the power lines tripped a breaker, leaving thousands without power, said Christopher LaRose, operations manager at Norwich Public Utilities. Because of phone line failure, power could not be restored remotely. A worker completed physical repairs, bringing power back within an hour.

The police station also lost power, but switched to generators.

The power failure also set off burglar and fire alarms and prompted some customers to call 911 to report their power was out. This came at a time when police were trying to dispatch officers, firefighters and ambulances to the scene.

Police reminded residents to only call 911 to report an actual emergency. For routine calls, they should call 886- 5561, Ext. 6. Police caution that improper use of the 911 system can delay a response to an actual emergency.

Fire officials planned to use a crane to “peel apart” the top of the building and stabilize the walls there are in danger of collapsing and making it unsafe for investigators to go into. Investigators were expected to conduct more resident interviews and were likely to return to the building today, once it is stabilized, to continue to search for a cause, fire officials said. Investigators said were not able to make a determination as of Sunday night.

They are targeting the front of the second floor in their investigation into a point of origin.

The American Red Cross worked with more than 30 people left homeless – 21 people in the building, plus others from the three apartment buildings behind it, said Sue Rochester- Bolen, manager of emergency services for the Red Cross' Charter Oak Chapter.

The residents of the surrounding buildings will likely be out of their homes for a couple days, but the tenants of the fire-ravaged building will never go back, she said. Most are staying with family and friends, but a few are staying at a local hotel temporarily. After setting up a service center in the nearby Greenville fire station, the Red Cross also helped residents get everything from winter coats and shoes to prescription refills and glasses.

Anyone looking to help the families can try calling Norwich Human Services, Rochester- Bolen said, adding that finding permanent housing for families will be the biggest challenge.