Hamden Fire Sends 4 To Hospital

Two residents and two firefighters went to the hospital Wednesday afternoon with non-life-threatening injuries after a fire broke out in the basement of a six-story apartment complex in Hamden.

Fire Chief Gary Merwede said the alarm went off at 2:23 p.m. Wednesday at 680 Mix Ave., one of the large apartment buildings in the Broadmoor Apartments complex. The department dispatched a truck at 2:24.

When crews arrived five minutes later, they discovered a fire in the basement that was creeping up through the building.

Merwede said they immediately called another alarm, and started simultaneous fire suppression and rescue operations.

One firefighter appears to have suffered from heat exhaustion, he said. Another sustained a burn to the leg. Both went to the hospital.

Merwede said four police officers breathed in smokevwhile helping people out of the building. They declined to be transported to the hospital.

Two residents were hospitalized as well with non-life-threatening injuries.

At 5 p.m., crews were still making sure the building was safe. They cleared out the apartments directly above where the blaze started, which sustained heavy damage.

Residents stood outside, unsure of when they would be able to return to their homes.

Mike Virgalla and his python Max (pictured above) managed to get out of the building without any trouble.

“Alarm goes off, opened the balcony and I see smoke, smelled like burning plastic, and I came out here,” Virgalla said.

Max, a small python, was wrapped around Virgalla’s neck as he stood looking up at the building.

Max wasn’t in a particularly friendly mood, Virgalla said. ​“He’s a little cold right now. Should have brought my hoodie.”

Gabriel Cano, 17, was alone with his dog Paco in his family’s apartment on the fifth floor when the fire started.

“White smoke everywhere in the room,” he recalled. He left the apartment and helped a neighbor who is in a wheelchair down the stairs. He said the neighbor had to slide down four flights of stairs because he could not take the elevators. Cano said he held Paco in one hand and his neighbor’s cushion in the other, while the neighbor’s girlfriend carried the wheelchair.

Merwede said that most residents were able to get out without too much assistance, but firefighters had to carry two people out. One was in a wheelchair; the other was elderly.

The frame of the building is wood, Merwede said, and crews discovered fire in the walls in upper floors. He said all on-duty Hamden firefighters were on scene only with a crew from New Haven. Crews from Cheshire and North Haven were taking care of the rest of the town so the Hamden department could tackle the fire.

Merwede said he hoped to get water turned back on in the building soon. He said that two apartments would definitely not be habitable Wednesday night. He said the town would work with building management to find temporary homes for the residents of those apartments, or would contact the Red Cross if management did not have a place to house them.

Merwede said the department is investigating, but has not yet determined the cause of the fire.