Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

fire-Laurel-Trail-Sandy-Hook

Full Text:

Fire Damages Vacant House

(with cut)

Firefighters from Sandy Hook, Newtown Hook and Ladder, and Hawleyville

responded about 2 am June 26 to a fire at an unoccupied house at 31 Laurel

Trail in Riverside.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said the accidental fire was caused by an

electrical problem in a ground-level utility room. An electrical panel shorted

out resulting in a fire which burned its way upward into the second story,

Chief Halstead said.

There was heavy fire damage to the structure, he said. More than 40

firefighters responded to the call.

The fire was relatively easy to put out, the chief said. Firefighters broke

windows in the building to vent the blaze.

One Sandy Hook firefighter suffered heat exhaustion as a result of fighting

the blaze. He was treated at the scene by the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance

Corps, Chief Halstead said.

Fire Marshal George Lockwood estimated property damage at $72,000. The cottage

can be repaired, he said.

Lights in the house of a neighbor went out, causing the neighbor to go outside

and investigate, Mr Lockwood said.

The neighbor then saw smoke pouring from 31 Laurel Trail and alerted

firefighters.

The building was vacant at the time of the fire, Mr Lockwood said. The

property has been rented to tenants, he said. The structure's owner is Marja

Vanderweerdt who was out west at the time of the blaze, Mr Lockwood said.