The Housatonic Wire Co. factory — still awaiting complete demolition after a fire — has been plagued with trespassing and attempted thefts of items left in the rubble.
Property owner Alex Budzinski said people try to get onto the property every day.
“It’s to the point that I just get tired of it,” Budzinski said. “How big a fence do I need to put up and how many signs do I need to put up just to keep these people out?”
Budzinski said locks on the fences have been broken off, and people have reported seeing trespassers on the property removing items.
Seymour police arrested two people last week for trespassing on the factory property and for sixth-degree larceny for allegedly taking scrap metal, bricks and other small trinkets from the busted building.
“Everything they take off that job site is profit out of my pocket,” said demolition supervisor, Andrew Mattei, of Seymour. “It’s basically taking my paycheck.”
Mattei, who works for Connecticut Dismantling, said he agreed to a lower pay for the demolition because he expected to scrap large amounts of metal from the job.
Now, with the demolition postponed and material walking off the site, Mattei said he’s left without work or income.
The factory was stripped of most of the precious metals in the past couple of months, Budzinski said. The building was scheduled for demolition to make way for a retail development at the site. Click here to read more about those plans.
But then on Sept. 11 the factory caught fire.
While no official cause has been determined, the Seymour fire marshal said it was likely caused by blow torches used by contractors, who were trying to get out steel left in the building.
Those contractors had already stripped the vacant factory of the valuable brass, copper and wire, Budzinksi said.
Warning
Budzinski said the factory site is dangerous. Walls could collapse at any moment. That’s why the fire marshal couldn’t even get inside to determine the exact cause of the fire.
The factory building is also located within eyesight of the police department, so patrols drive by the factory daily.
And, Budzinski said, he has people checking in on the site each day, to make sure no one is trespassing.
In short, he warns anyone thinking about going on the property — it’s not worth their time, and they will be prosecuted if caught.
Budzinski said the thieves aren’t getting away with much.
“If you could have seen what he was stealing,” Budzinski said of the person arrested on Thursday evening. “He must have had tag sale value, maybe $15 accumulated. They were dollar items.”
Demolition
The problem will likely go away soon, as the building is scheduled to be demolished sometime next week, Budzinski said.
But Mattei said he’d be surprised if it happens that soon.
The process has been held up with environmental and health screenings at the site. The extra screenings were ordered after a neighbor expressed concern about air quality in the neighborhood.
“Right now, I’m going to say it’s going to be a while, because of all the stricter guidelines that we have to follow now,” Mattei said.
Since the family complained, the demolition crew has had to undergo extra environmental and health testing at the site.
Mattei said he was providing an air quality monitor for the concerned family for the day of demolition.
He plans to meet with state health officials later this week to determine when the demolition can move forward.
