Echo Hose Hook and Ladder Co. 1 announced Tuesday that a “Howe Avenue Relief Fund” has been formally established at Webster Bank.
The fund was started after the firehouse was inundated with donations of food, clothes, gift cards and money to help almost 30 people who were displaced after a major fire in a large building on Howe Avenue early Monday.
“We are accepting monetary donations but ask that you bring them to Webster Bank, specifically the “Howe Ave Relief Fund.” Donations are accepted at any Webster Bank location so anyone anywhere can help,” a message on the Hook and Ladder website reads.
The website also indicated the firefighters are looking for gift cards to Home Depot, Lowes, Sears and Walmart to replace work supplies lost by some residents in the fire.
Click here to read the full message.
The fire destroyed first-floor businesses and caused three floors of upper apartments to collapse.
The wreckage on Howe Avenue flared up again Wednesday morning at about 5 a.m., with Shelton firefighters again dumping water on it.
Meanwhile, Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti announced the only remaining person who had been hospitalized after the fire was scheduled to be released.
In total, five people received medical treatment.
The cause of the fire, which may have started in the building’s basement, is still under investigation.
Firefighters, according to emergency radio transmissions, were initially sent to the large structure after receiving a report from a resident about a smoke alarm sounding.
There was no smoke or fire when firefighters arrived, but they found a water issue on the building’s first floor, presumably from a malfunctioning sprinkler system, which firefighters shut off.
A short while after that firefighters could smell smoke that seemed to be coming from the basement, according to the radio transmissions.
The investigation into how the fire started could take weeks.
