The back of the house, second floor deck. Contributed photo
DERBY — No injuries were reported after a house fire on Maple Avenue Monday morning.
Derby Fire Marshal David Marcarelli’s office is investigating the cause and origin of the blaze.
Firefighters were called to 57 – 59 Maple Ave. across from Griffin Hospital at about 9 a.m.
First-floor tenant Brian Howard said he was inside his apartment when he heard someone banging on his windows and front door.
“I thought it was pranksters, and I wondered why people were out doing something like that at nine in the morning,” Howard said.
It turned out to be retired Derby Police Department Officer John Dorosh, who had been driving by and saw the rear of the nearly 2,700 square-foot home was on fire.
“This guy was yelling at me, ‘Get out of that house! Get out of that house!’ I asked him to stop banging on the door,” Howard said. “He said ‘You don’t understand what’s happening, you need to get out.’ Then I realized what was happening.”
Howard grabbed his keys, wallet and cell phone, and got out of there.
He looked back to see smoke and flames engulfing a deck area in the back of the home, on the second floor. See the contributed video above.
Howard said the second-floor residents own the house, and were able to get out safely as firefighters arrived.
Derby Storm Engine Co. Captain Jared Heon, the incident commander, said the owners — a husband and wife — were in the home when the fire started.
Heon said the husband was on the second floor, while the wife was in the attic-area that had been converted into a living space.
“They heard the fire alarm go off, the husband walked out into the kitchen, and saw that the back of the house was on fire. The wife came downstairs and they got out,” Heon said.
Firefighters from Derby, Ansonia, Seymour, and Shelton were at the scene.
“The first arriving units saw heavy fire from the year, and obviously checked for occupants,” Heon said. “(Firefighters) made an aggressive attack to the interior, in addition to knocking down the fire that was on the exterior. There was a good amount of fire upon arrival, but companies did a good job keeping it to the second floor.”
The house was built in 1909, property tax records show.
“It’s an older home with a lot of renovations. When you do that it contains voids in certain spaces. You have to chase that and open everything up. We had units operating in the basement, the first floor, the second floor and the attic,” Heon said.
EMS crews from Derby and Ansonia were on scene as well, as were fire police from Ansonia and Derby.
Howard said he would be staying with relatives. It was unclear what arrangements were being made for the owners who were displaced.
The incident was deemed under control at about 9:56 a.m., with extensive overhaul underway.
