The fire Monday night that tore through a duplex on Mount Pleasant Street may have been started by incense that was part of a religious shrine.
Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks said a man who lived in the apartment where the fire started had been praying at the shrine shortly before the fire started.
The man then went upstairs, smelled smoke and returned to the lower floor. The information comes from an interview Hawks said he conducted with the man and his family.
“They came downstairs and saw the rug burning underneath a table,” Hawks said.
The people who live in the apartment then opened a sliding glass door to the rear rear yard to get the smoke out. Someone went upstairs to get water.
(Video above from FiregroundImages.com.)
“The wind that was blowing last night, it was unbelievable, it was almost like a blowtorch,” Hawks said. “By the time they made it back downstairs with water, it was too much. They’re lucky they made it out.”
No one inside the two-family house was hurt. Two firefighters had minor injuries.
Technically, the investigation is still underway. Hawks can’t enter the residence because the floors inside are not stable. He plans to conduct another interview with the family.
Click here to read the Valley Indy story on the fire.
The family’s name wasn’t available Tuesday.
The fire started about 7:30 p.m. Monday, in a duplex at 133 – 135 Mount Pleasant St. in Derby.
Collection Drive
Meanwhile, there is a volunteer-driven collection scheduled for Wednesday to help the two families who were displaced.
Missy Lundeen of Ansonia said in an email that she will be at the Hilton Garden at 25 Old Stratford Road in Shelton to accept donations of clothes and similar items for the two families.
Lundeen is a volunteer with the Connecticut Red Cross, which set up the families who lived at the duplex in hotel rooms after the fire.
However, this collection is being done independent of that organization.
One family, the shrine’s owner, has five adults.
The second family — the Manriques — has two adults and three children, ages 4, 8 and 18.
From Lundeen:
“I will be at the Hilton Garden on Old Stratford Road WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Drop off of items will be accepted at that time in the lobby.
Should you not be able to get to this drop off, please text me at 203 – 751-4274 with your name, address and a good time to call, and I will try to schedule a time when I can pick them up.
According to a list Lundeen posted on Facebook, the families were looking for:
- Men’s size 36 jeans, xl shirts
- Women’s size 13/14 pants, l/xl shirts
- Men’s size 32 jeans, s/m shirts
- Boys 8/10 pants, m/l shirts
- Girls 4/5 pants and shirts
- Also, any toys for an 8‑year-old boy and 4‑year-old girl would be greatly appreciated
