Weekend Fire In Seymour Deemed Accidental

An image shared on Facebook by the Great Hill Hose Co. in Seymour.

SEYMOUR — Saturday’s fire on Main Street has been ruled an accident, Seymour Fire Marshal Timm Willis said. 

About 20 people were displaced by the fire. They’ve been assisted by the Connecticut Red Cross. Some have been staying in hotels as they search for housing.

The buildings involved in the fire were 143 Main St. and 151 – 153 Main St. The two downtown buildings, separated from each other by less than two feet, date back to the early 1900s.

A police officer on the street spotted an electrical fire between the two buildings about 12:15 p.m. and called it in. 

The first firefighters on scene saw flames on the exterior of the two buildings heading toward the roof. The flames then entered the roof and attic area of the buildings.

The bulk of the damage affected 151 – 153 Main St., The Greenwich Workshop Building,” Willis said. 

The building at 143 Main St. had retail on the first floor and about 10 apartments on the upper two floors. No one was injured.

Willis said there had been a power outage in Seymour earlier in the day (impacting about 1,400 Eversource customers) before the fire Saturday.

They had just re-energized that part of the town, and a Seymour police officer was picking up temporary stop signs the police put out because traffic lights were out,” Willis said. He could see and hear the arcing from where he was on Main Street.”

The officer, joined by other Seymour officers, evacuated the buildings.

The cause and origin of the fire was determined to be a problem with the electrical service entrance, a long metal pipe carrying electrical lines to 143 Main St.

The term that we’re using in the report is that it was abnormal electrical activity in that service riser. What caused that specifically I don’t know, but there was some type of issue with the electrical service,” Willis said.

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