Frank Juliano
Updated 12:11 pm, Monday, January 6, 2014
Rubble off Howe Avenue after a massive fire destroyed businesses and apartments in downtown Shelton on Monday, Jan. 6, 2014.Photo: Frank Juliano, Connecticut Post | Buy This Photo
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SHELTON -- Nearly 30 tenants say they are lucky to be alive today after a massive fire ripped through their apartment building shortly after midnight Monday.
Five people received minor injuries after the four-story mixed-use building at 446 Howe Ave. burned and then collapsed in the heart of the city's downtown.
Many said it was a miracle no one was killed in the inferno.
Firefighters and rescue workers performed a heroic job pulling several people out of the flaming building and plucking some from the upper floors with tower ladders. Crews were forced to withdraw several times as portions of the fire-ravaged building fell to the ground.
Tenants said they are grateful smoke detectors worked and neighbors helped neighbors.
Gerard Murphy said he made it out of his burning apartment on Howe Avenue in Shelton because the building's alarms woke him up. "It was bad in there. I couldn't see anything in the hallway," Murphy said.
Tenant Kenny Wells said if his friend didn't bang on his door yelling "fire, get out!" he's not sure how things would have turned out.
"The smoke was so thick I couldn't even see him when I opened the door," Wells said Monday in the Echo Hose firehouse a block away.
The apartment he lived in for the past seven years -- on the top floor at the rear of the building -- is gone.
Wells said he was able to escape down the rear stairwell, but on the way down he heard someone call for help.
"When I got outside I told them (firefighters) there is someone in there."
Officials said all people inside the building escaped safety. There are no reports of people missing from family members. A state police search and rescue team is at the site, as are troopers from the fire and explosion unit.
Nearly 12 hours after the fire broke out, firefighters were still on the scene putting out hot spots.
"I'm hoping we can get in by late afternoon to determine the cause," said Fire Marshal James Tortora. He said the State Fire Marshal's office will join on the investigation. For now he said its still too dangerous to go inside the building.
A crew of Yankee Gas employees has shut off gas in the area and United Illuminating is making sure power is safe and secure downtown. As of noon, more than 900 customers in downtown Shelton are without power.
To make matters worse, the strain on the public water supply resulted in a broken water main near the intersection of Howe Avenue and Bridge Street, Aquarion Water Co. officials said.
"As a result of that break, everyone near that area either has no water pressure or reduced pressure," said Peter Fazekas, a spokesman for the company. "And would don't expect that to improve until fire-fighting efforts are over and the pressure is able to build back up again." An undermined number of customers are affected, he said.
When firefighters arrived shortly midnight they encountered a raging fire with thick smoke billowing from the building. Mutual aid from Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Monroe, Stratford and Milford came to the scene or manned Shelton firehouses.
"It's was not a good feeling at all when we got here," Asst. Fire Chief Nick Verdicchio said. "We had heavy fire showing from the back of the building. It started to come out the front. "So we just did a full court press trying to get these people out of here and within a half hour we had a major collapse. The building collapsed upon itself."
Heavy equipment has been brought to the scene to move the piles of rubble and give firefighters better access to the remaining hot spots in the rear corner of the building.
Several downtown streets and intersections remained closed.
Shortly after the fire, many of the 27 displaced tenants found a place to stay with relatives or friends, and Red Cross volunteers are meeting with the rest at the nearby Echo Hose firehouse.
None of the five injured tenants have life-threatening conditions and everyone had now been accounted for, officials said.
The landmark building housed Howe Convenient, Liquid Lunch, a Chinese restaurant, an art studio and a florist on the ground floor and apartments above. The building is owned by Ralph Matto, of Shelton. Its full value is $1,420,600 with an the assessment of $994,420.
The fire was reported at 12:25 a.m., officials said, and the building burned for more than an hour.
With temperatures in the teens, hydrants froze making it difficult to supply water to the raging fire, Verdicchio said. "One of the obstacles we had was water supply," Verdicchio said. "We had a couple of nearby hydrants that were frozen. We had no water. So we had to scramble to find a water supply."
Verdicchio said that a fire truck was damaged when a street sign fell on it, when the 100- year-old building collapsed. He said at 5:30 a.m. that he believes that all of the tenants and firefighters have been accounted for.
The fire started in the basement of the building, but there is no word yet on what may have caused the fire.
Liquid Lunch, a popular restaurant known for its soups, posted on its Facebook page, "We regret to inform you that our Howe Avenue location has been affected by a 4 alarm fire last night and will be closed for the foreseeable future. All reports so far say that everyone got out OK."
It reminded customers that is other Shelton location at 6 Research Drive "will be ready and waiting to take care of all of our loyal Howe Ave customers."
Next to Liquid Lunch on the corner of Howe Avenue, is a vacant lot. Verdicchio said the Hunter's Corner gun shop site exploded and burned in July 1993.
"That's how we got that vacant lot," he said.
The biggest fire in Shelton's history happened a few blocks away at the Sponge Rubber Products factory on March 1, 1975. The fire, that put thousands of people out of work, was the largest arson investigated at that time by the FBI.
Staff writers Michael P. Mayko, John Burgeson and Digital News Editor Jim Shay contributed to this story.
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