House Fire In Sandy Hook Claims A Life

By Andrew Gorosko & Shannon Hicks

An unidentified middle-age woman died early Thursday morning where firefighters battled a fire that seriously damaged the home she was in at 16 Philo Curtis Road in Sandy Hook.

Firefighters were dispatched to the house at 12:19 am December 29 after a neighbor on nearby Elana Lane called 911 to report seeing smoke.

The identity of the deceased woman was not available late Thursday morning, as The Bee was at deadline.

Sandy Hook, Hook & Ladder, and Botsford fire companies were initially dispatched, but when the first firefighters on the scene confirmed a fire within the residence, Dodgingtown and Hawleyville firefighters were also dispatched.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead, who served as the officer in command for the incident, also called for mutual aid from Southbury shortly after arriving on the scene.

The fire was discovered at the rear of the single-family Colonial-style home. The two-story house, which was built in 1988, has 2,165 square feet of living space.

The woman was found unconscious on the floor of a second-story bedroom. Newtown Ambulance personnel were on the scene almost as soon as the fire companies were dispatched. A medic was also called to the scene. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered to the woman, who was transported to Danbury Hospital, but was pronounced dead there.

When firefighters arrived at the house, they noticed that a window was open in the room where the woman was later found, Chief Halstead said.

Parked in the driveway of the home, Hook & Ladder’s ladder truck was used to shuttle firefighters to the roof of the dwelling. Others gained access through the front door of the house. Sandy Hook’s quint fire truck was stationed in the driveway at 14 Philo Curtis, pumping water to the lines that were being used to fight the fire.

A hole was cut into the northwest wall of the attic to provide ventilation. All of the windows of the home were also broken in order to ventilate the building. JP Maguire, a restoration firm, was later called to the scene to board up the house.

While the fire itself was knocked down fairly quickly, Sandy Hook firefighters remained on the scene to ensure that hot spots did not flare up.

Like a house fire on Pilgrim Lane in February, firefighters were hampered in their efforts by the amount of material found inside the home. Unlike that earlier fire, the Philo Curtis Road fire did not require that holes be cut into most walls of the house.

A dog and cat also died in the fire. The dog was reportedly discovered in the bedroom next to the woman.

State fire marshal staffers arrived on the scene shortly after 3 am. Their investigation reportedly focused on the family room, which had the largest amount of fire damage. Other areas of the house had smoke damage.

Workers from the state fire marshal’s office responded to the fire scene to investigate because the fire was a fatal fire, said Chief Halstead. As a standard procedure, an accelerant-sniffing dog was used to determine whether anyone had placed any substances to speed the spread of a set fire, he said. In such investigations, all possibilities must be considered, he said.

Chief Halstead, who also is the town fire marshal, said at 8 am on Thursday that the fire remained “undetermined” in origin. The blaze apparently started near a couch in a ground-level family room at the rear of the building, he said.

Investigators had narrowed down the blaze’s origin to three potential causes and were working to pinpoint the cause, he said. “The fire does not appear to be suspicious at this time, “ Chief Halstead said.

The deceased woman’s unidentified husband, who lived with her at the house, was not home when the fire was reported, Chief Halstead said.

The man was alerted of the fire and then went to Danbury Hospital, the fire chief said.

Firefighters were able to control the blaze in a matter of minutes, the fire chief said.

“The fire was knocked down in five to eight minutes,” he said. The fire generated much smoke, he added.

Town police participated in the fire investigation. A police spokesman was not available for comment.

Of the many fires that have occurred locally during the past year, Chief Hallstead said, “2010 has been a very busy year for structure fires. There were many structure fires in town.”