Ansonia Fire Marshal Investigating Weekend Blaze

Saturday's fire was on East Street, which is in the middle of this Google Map.

ANSONIA — The fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a fire that displaced a family on East Street on Saturday night.

No injuries were reported. The family who lives there was offered relocation assistance from the local American Red Cross, but declined because they were able to stay with family members instead, officials said.

The fire started on an attached deck outside the two-story, single-family house at 7 East St. at around 11 p.m. on July 23.

Ansonia Assistant Fire Department Chief Anthony DeLucia there was a tense moment at one point when Ansonia firefighters thought one of their own was trapped under debris when the rear porches/decks of the home collapsed.

We were on scene just about five minutes when all the rear porches collapsed,” DeLucia said. We thought one of our members was trapped, because he was seen in that area just a few seconds earlier. We did a roll call and everyone thankfully was accounted for.”

It took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control.

Fire Marshal Darrick Lundeen, who is investigating the fire, said the city’s building inspector deemed the house uninhabitable. There was at least $200,000 in damage, officials said.

The fire happened during a heat wave, with daytime temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Lundeen said firefighters worked to fight the blaze on a rotating basis so that nobody would get overcome by the extreme heat, and ensure they stayed hydrated. Lundeen said the gear firefighters wear when battling blazes weighs upwards of 50 pounds. Ansonia Rescue and Medical Services was on hand with water and to ensure anyone who needed help received it immediately.

Lundeen said he was planning to conduct additional interviews with the family when possible as part of his fire investigation.

Derby, Seymour and Shelton firefighters were called in for assistance.

Firefighters were on scene for about three hours.

This photo shows the extent of the damage caused after a fire Saturday night. No injuries were reported. Photo by Keith Muratori of FireGroundImages.com.

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