UPDATE (Saturday, January 23, 2020): This story has been updated to include information about a gofundme page started by the family displaced by Friday's fire.

* * * * *

A rapidly advancing fire that may have originated in or around a fireplace chimney appears to have destroyed a 3,000-square-foot home on Aspen Lane, Friday morning, January 22.

The first calls began coming in just before 11 am, and the first arriving firefighter just minutes later notified the responding companies that fire was already spreading through the two-story home’s roof near the chimney.

By the time responding apparatus arrived and staged on a long narrow driveway, the attic area of the home was fully involved.

All residents who were home at the time of the call had evacuated, and were being assisted by neighbors who converged on the scene on the residential cul-de-sac. No responders reported injuries, either, although Newtown ambulance volunteers were on hand for the duration to lend medical assistance if needed.

It was not long after a commander took charge of the scene that mutual aid calls began going out, first requesting engines and a tanker from Monroe, units from Southbury, and eventually looking as far as Trumbull for support to cover vacant local fire stations, according to dispatches from the scene. Monroe's Stepney, and Stevenson companies were also on standby or were called to the scene.

A Newtown Deputy Fire Marshal and clean-up response service were also on scene within an hour of the call. No immediate cause had been related as of the posting of this initial report, and it was unclear whether the residence would be salvageable.

With no fire hydrants near the scene, a portable feeder pond was erected near the fire and multiple tanker trucks shuttled water from neighboring suppression tanks and other water sources in the area.

Town land records show the 2,849 square foot colonial wood frame house was built in 1998, and is co-owned by several parties including Arif and Flutura Gjondalaj.

By 1:20 pm, responding units were being released but several companies were remaining on scene to continue wetting down the remains of the building.

By Friday evening, a gofundme page had been launched by Ardit Gjonbalaj, whose family lived in the Aspen Lane home. The family has lived in Newtown for seven years, and their home was "totaled," according to Gjonbalaj's post.

"My father, Arif Gjonbalaj, had a many financial hardships to get to where we are and our home was very valuable to us in our hearts because of his astonishing come up in a new country starting fresh," he said in part, adding "I'm reaching out to the town of Newtown as well as friends and family for support in these dire times."

By midday Saturday, the fund had reached $11,770 toward a $15,000 goal.

Check back as this story develops — and look for a full recap in the January 29, 2021 print edition of The Newtown Bee.