2011-01-04: 79 Horton Street Basement Fire

It was a Tuesday at 5:40 pm when units were dispatched to a reported house fire. Engine #4 was the first unit on the scene and confirmed a working fire in the basement at 79 Horton St. Firefighters made an aggressive attack by trying to descend the basement stairs, but the fire had already extended to the upper floors of the home. Over thirty Firefighters were called to the scene and worked on extinguishing the fire and salvaging the occupants property. No injuries were reported.

The following article appeared in the Stamford Advocate on January 5, 2011

Heavy, smoky fire damages two-story Cove home

By Jeff Morganteen, Staff writer

STAMFORD — An intense Tuesday evening basement fire at a two-family Cove home displaced 12 residents and required two teams of firefighters to extinguish.

The fire was reported by multiple callers who saw heavy smoke coming from the 78 Horton St. home, fire officials said.

Stamford Fire Capt. William Avalos said an engine from the Shippan fire station responded to the first call at 5:40 p.m. Firefighters from the downtown station responded to a second alarm that came in at 6:16 p.m.

The home suffered extensive first-floor and basement fire damage, as well as smoke damage throughout other areas.

The first arriving firefighters saw smoke and flames coming from the back of the house. They pushed through heavy smoke attempting to get to the basement and had to retreat because of heavy smoke and heat, Stamford Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief William Smith said.

The firefighters regrouped and were joined by other crews from several fire engines to attack the blaze with a hose line in the basement, as well as the first floor, which was being threatened by flames coming up from the basement ceiling.

It took 25 minutes to completely contain the fire. A total of 30 firefighters responded.

“These guys pushed really hard on the second effort,” Smith said. Firefighters had to break every window in the house to allow hot gasses to escape.

No one was injured. All residents home at the time escaped before firefighters arrived.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The displaced residents are staying with friends and relatives.