Contributed By Greater Dwight Development Corporation
The fire at 390 Orchard.
A two-alarm fire interrupted renovations at Dwight’s Kensington Square apartments while sending two firefighters to the hospital.
The fire occurred Monday at 390 Orchard St., a two-and-a-half story house currently owned by Boston-based developer The Community Builders (TCB). No cause has been determined so far.
No one was living in the building at the time, as TCB was in the process of renovating the four apartments there — part of the company’s planned rehabilitation of 96 apartments in its “Kensington Square” complex.
According to TCB representative Kristin Anderson, two subcontracted construction companies had been working in the building that morning when employees smelled smoke on the building’s second floor. “They weren’t doing any hot work or anything, so we’re not sure what happened,” she said.
They evacuated the house and called the fire department at 9:32 a.m.
When firefighters arrived on scene, according to Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Caughlin, every floor of the house (including the basement) had caught fire.
“They started to attack the fire immediately,” recalled Coughlin. A group entered the building and found “holes in the floor” and “a compromised staircase.” The group conducted an “aggressive search” for people and found no one inside. “All the workers were accounted for,” he said.
One firefighter fell through the staircase while climbing upstairs, Coughlin said, but managed to pull himself up. He said he wasn’t able to release the names of individual firefighters involved at this time.
The fire continued to rage and became a second-alarm blaze, requiring additional units to show up on scene. A total of 60 New Haven firefighters arrived to contain the fire.
Eventually, the house’s roof collapsed.
The crumbled roof.
The team used forceful “master streams” from heavy-duty trucks to quell the fire. One firefighter got hit in the mouth by the hose; three of his teeth came loose and he required stitches to his jaw.
Another firefighter sustained burns on his ear and shoulder, according to Coughlin. It took two hours for the flames to subside.
“They fought hard,” Coughlin said. “The members of the fire department did an incredible, incredible job.”
As for the source of the fire, he said, “it’s still under investigation.”
The injured firefighters were later treated at the hospital and released the same day. “They’re both expected to make a full recovery,” Coughlin said.
On behalf of TCB, Anderson said, “We’re so thankful for the New Haven Fire Department’s response. … They have to take on a lot of risk and we’re really impressed with the work that they did. Our wishes are to the two firefighters thatsustained some injuries.”
She said that TCB has “secured the site” and has enlisted a structural engineer to visit the site and determine next steps.
Anderson said that TCB has only four more buildings left to renovate in Kensington Square, including the Orchard Street house. The fire will affect the timeline for renovating the four units in the affected house, she said, but not the other buildings.
“We do have other units onsite” for the tenants who were planning to move back into that house, she said. “Nobody’s going to be displace as a result of that fire.”
Around the corner, staff members at the Greater Dwight Development Corporation (GDDC) watched as the Fire Department worked.
“We were concerned that it could spread,” said GDDC Executive Director Linda Townsend Maier. She expressed gratitude to the fire department for managing the fire swiftly and effectively in dangerous conditions.
“They really held it down,” she said. “They kept it to that one building and everything around it was safe. Because we are in such a densely populated neighborhood, it could have been a real disaster.”
The view from a GDDC security camera.
Thomas Breen Photos
The house two days after the fire.
Melted siding on the house next door, also owned by TCB.
The door to 390 Orchard St.
So glad all our responders were okay.