Paul Bass Photos
Firefighters packing up after extinguishing the fire.
@NewHavenFire
The Red Cross was headed to Norton Street Tuesday afternoon to find temporary lodgings for a family left in the cold after a fire.
The fire began around 1:40 p.m. on the third floor of three-story 318 – 320 Norton, according to Deputy Fire Chief Tim Kieley.
He said the house’s occupants had gotten out safely by the time firefighters arrived.
“Companies got upstairs and knocked it down quick,” extinguishing the one-alarm fire with five or ten minutes, Kieley said at the scene at 2:15 p.m. The fire did not spread to other floors.
Kieley was waiting for the fire marshal to arrive to determine whether the other two floors’ occupants could go back in to their apartments, and to begin investigating what caused the fire. He said five third-floor tenants would need to be relocated for now.
The tenants waited across the street, trying to keep warm in the chill as light snow began falling. They declined to be interviewed.
Norton was closed to traffic between Whalley Avenue and Goffe St. 318 – 320 Norton has been owned by Nehemia Levin, who lives elsewhere in the neighborhood, and a series of LLC attached to him since 2008, according to land records.
Engine 9, Squad 2, Engine 15, Engine 4, and Truck Company 4 responded to the fire.
Perhaps somebody at the NHI could write a follow up story to the dozen or so fires that occurred in the city over the past few years. Most reports conclude that the cause of the fire is under investigation but that cause is typically not eventually reported. As a landlord and resident homeowner and concerned citizen who would like to prevent structure fires, if possible, I'm interested if something can be learned from these disasters.