A basement dehumidifier is thought to have caused a fire that shut down Bella’s Pizza in Derby Sunday (July 7).
Fire Marshal Phil Hawks said Tuesday burn patterns indicate the dehumidifier — a standard, consumer-grade type found in hardware stores — was probably the source.
Hawks isn’t being definitive because he’s not sending the device out to be tested. That would cost untold thousands and isn’t needed in fires where there is relatively minor damage, no injuries nor evidence of a crime.
“Local fire marshals, especially if there is no loss of life, don’t take an appliance and hire an electrical engineer and a laboratory to do X‑rays to see if there was a malfunction,” Hawks said.
Both the owners of the pizzeria and the owners of the building that houses the pizzeria have insurance. The insurance companies may send the machine out for further testing, Haws said.
“It looks like an accidental fire to me right now, and it looks like the dehumidifier possibly caused the fire,” Hawks said.
Derby and Shelton firefighters and EMS were sent to 9 Minerva St. at about 10:30 p.m. and were greeted by heavy smoke coming from the building. They went to the basement and quickly doused the flames.
A stack of pizza boxes next to the dehumidifier in the basement also caught fire, but Hawks said the boxes were packed tightly, which prevented the flames from spreading quickly.
“It was like trying to light the bottom of a phone book on fire,” Hawks said.
The business remained closed as of July 10.
