As Published In Fire & Water Engineering Magazinbe
A general alarm fire gave firefighters at Stamford, Conn., an hour-and-half battle before it was brought under control at the Boulevard Motors, Inc., on October 8. The fire, which engulfed the auto firm, and nearby stores, began with an explosion that sent the firm’s showroom windows and bricks flying into the middle of the city’s main street. Damage was estimated at $100,000.
The first alarm was sounded at 10:10 a.m., and a general alarm was sounded 16 minutes later under orders of Fire Chief Thomas F. Richardson. Three volunteer companies from nearby Glenbrook also responded to man the city’s firehouses. Chief Richardson said he thought the explosion came from the back of the agency where an auto body-paint shop was located. No injuries were reported.
The two-story stone building had a number of new and used cars in it, which were damaged heavily, as was the Geneveses Shirt and Pants factory on the top floor: the Chiappetta Blouse Company, which lost its entire stock of 5,000 dresses, on one side; and a drug store owned by Vincent Giampietro, on the other. Fire fighters kept the blaze from spreading to two four-story brick apartment houses that flanked the damaged buildings, only a few blocks from the center of the city.
— Fire & Water Engineering Magazine, December 1, 1956
