Furnace Fire Damages Riverside Home

By Andrew Gorosko

Several dozen firefighters responded to a house fire in the Riverside section early on the cold morning of Saturday, March 1, extinguishing a blaze that caused an estimated $55,000 in damage to the compact home.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company Chief Bill Halstead said firefighters received a call for help at 3:14 am, reporting a fire at 15 Round Hill Road. Round Hill Road is a dead end street extending off Underhill Road, near Interstate 84.

During the incident, two firefighters were injured, Chief Halstead said. One man fell and sustained a back injury. Another man was transported to Danbury Hospital to be treated for exhaustion, after which he was released, Chief Halstead said.

At the time of the fire, two middle-aged men were in the home, which is a cottage that has been improved for year-round living, Chief Halstead said. Present were property owner Raymond Peck and an unidentified man. Neither man was injured in the blaze, the fire chief said.

The fire apparently started when the home’s oil-fired furnace malfunctioned and possibly exploded, Chief Halstead said. The furnace caught fire and the fire spread through the partial basement of the one-story structure.

Sandy Hook, Newtown Hook and Ladder, and Hawleyville firefighters went to the blaze. Nine fire trucks were dispatched.

The first fire truck was on the scene about nine minutes after the fire call was received, Chief Halstead said. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to knock down the blaze, he said.

Because the insured property is uninhabitable due to fire damage, the residents are staying elsewhere, the fire chief said. The structure can be repaired for reoccupancy, he said.

Blocked access to a nearby “dry hydrant” impeded firefighters’ work to douse the flames, Chief Halstead said. That dry hydrant is a red vertical pipe, from which Housatonic River water is drawn for firefighting. An area resident had parked a vehicle in front of the dry hydrant, blocking firefighters’ access to it.

Chief Halstead, who is also the town fire marshal, urged residents not to park in front of access points to firefighting water supplies.

These access points include conventional fire hydrants, dry hydrants, and also the red vertical pipes in subdivisions, which are connected to water supplies in underground storage tanks.