Helium, Freon Tanks Fed The Fire

Firefighters found multiple gas tanks in an apartment where a blaze began that engulfed the Trinity Bar & Restaurant building. But did the gas in those tanks cause the fire itself?

Fire department investigators are pursuing that question as they continue exploring the Sept. 1 blaze that wrecked the apartments of upstairs tenants as well as the popular first-floor watering hole at 157 Orange St. next to Pitkin Plaza.

Before drawing conclusions, the investigators are waiting for a 36-year-old burn victim to recover enough to interview him, Fire Chief John Alston Jr. said Friday.

The fire started in a second-floor apartment where a man lived. Investigators know that much.

They know that an explosion occurred in that apartment before firefighters arrived on the scene Sept. 1. That a second explosion occurred as they arrived. That a third explosion occurred as they were outside the apartment fighting the fire.

They don’t know if any those explosions caused the fire in the first place, or if the fire caused the explosions, Alston said.

They know that the tanks the man had in his house included helium and freon, according to Alston. They know that the man at one point had a license to work on refrigeration and heating systems.

“We know he smoked,” Alston said of the tenant. Was that the source of the fire? They don’t know.

“We know he tinkered and tried to repair things,” Alston said. Again, they don’t know if the fire happened as the man was tinkering — or if it began as the man was sleeping.

Alston said investigators hope to ask the man if he was sleeping or smoking or tinkering or cooking right before the fire, assuming he recovers enough from burns suffered in the fire to respond. The man remains in critical condition in the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital.