Summerfield Gardens 2nd Alarm Condo Fire (Shelton, CT) 5/18/23 SHELTON, CT – At approximately 2:15pm on May 18, 2023, the Shelton Fire Department was dispatched to 31 Summerfield Gardens for a reported generator on fire. First-in companies reported a working fire going up the side of a two-story condo complex. The fire quickly extended into the structure via the eves and became difficult to find as it eluded firefighters throughout the interior walls, peaks, and attic. A 2nd alarm was called bringing in mutual aid companies from Derby and Seymour to the scene. Units from Stratford, Nichols, and Monroe provided station coverage. No residents were injured in the fire, but the inhabitants of 2 units were displaced due to damage.
10/12/22 Shelton, CT – A civilian burning cardboard let his fire get out of control, and it spread quickly, igniting nearby piles of cardboard and tires. This pile exposed to the connex box, which it was stacked up against. The box became fully involved and exposed to two autos behind it. Two hand lines and a multi-versal were used to knock down the heavy volume of fire. Companies had extensive overhaul. The town fire marshal is investigating. Glenn Duda, Allhandsworking
Waterford Ln. Fire (Shelton, CT) 1/14/21 SHELTON, CT – At approximately 12:44pm on January 14, 2021, the Shelton Fire Department was dispatched to Waterford Lane for a reported kitchen fire. First units on scene found heavy fire showing from two windows on the D-side of a wood frame private dwelling. All occupants and pets were reported out of the structure safely before FD arrival and an interior attack was commenced. Conditions deteriorated quickly as the fire spread rapidly throughout the home and all members were ordered out of the structure for a defensive attack. A mayday was called during overhaul operations when two firefighters broke through the fire ravished second floor. Neither were injured and the mayday was quickly cleared.
SHELTON, CT – At approximately 12:44pm on January 14, 2021, the Shelton Fire Department was dispatched to Waterford Lane for a reported kitchen fire. First units on scene found heavy fire showing from two windows on the D-side of a wood frame private dwelling. All occupants and pets were reported out of the structure safely before FD arrival and an interior attack was commenced. Conditions deteriorated quickly as the fire spread rapidly throughout the home and all members were ordered out of the structure for a defensive attack. A mayday was called during overhaul operations when two firefighters broke through the fire ravished second floor. Neither were injured and the mayday was quickly cleared.
06/13/20 Shelton, CT – Multiple departments in the valley battled this fire at the former Star Pin Company that consumed several multi-story, mill buildings.
Glenn Duda photo
The fire was reported shortly after 7 p.m. and by the time first-due companies arrived, they had a portion of the complex with heavy fire throughout. The fire quickly spread to the other buildings within the complex, followed by several structural collapses. Companies had access problems since the factory was built river side and there was only a narrow street where they could operate.
Glenn Duda photo
A heads up move by one of the Shelton MPOs involved drafting from the canal under the street through a manhole. Several ladders, multi-versals, and hand lines worked for hours to darken down the fire. It was not brought under control until eight hours later.
Glenn Duda photo
The buildings were built in 1875 and the company operated until 1975 making hair pins. The Star Pin Company was founded on September 25, 1866 and originally ten employees produced pins and hair pins within a 5,000 square foot, frame mill in the Wells Hollow section of Shelton. One of the founders and early officers of the company, James C. Hubbard, initially operated a pin shop in North Haven and is credited with inventing one of the first automated hair pin making machines in the United States. Hubbard’s son, Henry Franklin Hubbard, joined the company during the 1890s and was active with the firm for 57 years. During this time he attained the title of ‘dean of American pin makers,’ after designing the machine that produced the first bobby pins. The company’s early success caused it to outgrow its initial factory and in 1875 they erected a three-and-a-half-story, brick mill along the Housatonic Water Company’s recently constructed canal. This structure comprises the first three stories of the present complex’s central block. It was raised to four stories in 1906. By this time the firm employed over 125 workers. The company’s peak came during the 1920’s, whereupon 400 employees toiled within 125,000 feet of total floor space. By the early 1950’s, the company also produced folding paper boxes and grew to 140 employees. In 1973, a Hartford Courant article highlighted the fact that the Star Pin Company was one of the last firms in the state continuing to employ water powered generation, which it used to generate lighting. Following the closure of the Star Pin Company, its Canal Street plant passed to the Genie Manufacturing Company, a division of North American Philips.
SHELTON, CT – At approximately 8:00am on June 27, 2016, Shelton Fire companies 5,3, and 1 responded to 15 Fox Run Lane for a house fire. First-in members found heavy fire from the rear of a raised ranch. The fire quickly spread into the dining room, kitchen, and then to the attic. The fire was reported to have started from a discarded cigarette in a flowerpot. Nobody was injured in the fire and Monroe also responded as mutual aid.
A fire early Monday led to a building collapse, a water main break and massive excavations that threw the city’s downtown into chaos as businesses were forced to close, traffic was detoured and dozens of residents were displaced. Five people were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
… the blaze, destroyed the four-story structure at 434 Howe Ave. Evening temperatures plummeted, freezing some of the thousands of gallons of water that flowed over nearby streets onto the Derby-Shelton bridge after being pumped throughout the day on smoldering debris.
The blaze, which began shortly after midnight, caused the building’s upper levels, which housed 27 families, to collapse atop street-level businesses like Howe Convenient, a florist and a barber shop. Smoke, water and debris damaged the adjoining Liquid Lunch and Joy Lee Chinese restaurants. The building that burned Monday was built in 1880.
