An image from the fire posted by Shelton firefighters to Facebook in 2016.
DERBY-SHELTON – A Derby-based podcast host is planning a retrospective of the Shelton sponge rubber factory fire, the 50th anniversary of which is coming up March 1.
“It’s one of the most significant events that happened in the Valley, right alongside the Flood of ‘55 or The River Restaurant explosion,” said David Lenart, host of “The Volley Chief Podcast.”
Lenart’s podcast will feature a review of the fire and interviews with firefighters, police and EMS crews who responded to the scene. “The Volley Chief” is available from all major podcast providers, including Apple Podcasts.
Click here for the podcast’s Facebook page.
The details of the 1975 Sponge Rubber Products factory fire are the stuff of a good Netflix true crime documentary.
The factory was formerly owned by B.F. Goodrich and had just been sold to Charles Moeller of Ohio.
The location is now home to Veterans Park in Shelton, a green space, and the city’s river walk along the Housatonic River.
According to press reports at the time, a “masked trio” kidnapped three security guards at the factory, saying they were sick of the way things were going in the country and wanted to burn the factory down.
The suspects placed 55 gallon drums filled with gasoline all over the building. The drums were linked together and detonated, causing an explosion that could be felt for miles.
The building burned, costing 900 people their jobs – and wreaking havoc on the many small businesses such as sandwich shops and restaurants in Derby and Shelton that relied on the factory employees for their business.
Authorities were quick to reveal the cause of the crime wasn’t some Patty Hearst-like political stunt. Prosecutors accused the owner of being part of a large conspiracy to destroy the factory in order to collect insurance.
The FBI at the time described the fire as the largest industrial arson case in U.S. history.
Ten people — including the plant’s owner,“his allegedly clairvoyant spiritual adviser, and eight other men” faced arson and conspiracy charges, according to The New York Times.
Moeller was acquitted, but never collected on the policy. The psychic and the rest of the team were convicted. In 1990, the Times did a profile of the forensic auditors who helped investigate the case.
Moeller died in 2013. He was 85.
'The Volley Chief' podcast logo.
Lenart is a former Derby Alderman and former Derby Fire Department chief. In July 2024 he became fire marshal for the Town of Somers and chief of that town’s fire department. Prior to that he worked for 17 years as a Bridgeport firefighter, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
He said the sponge rubber factory fire is a defining moment in Valley history because it marked a shift in where people worked – the era of getting a job in a factory or mill or similar industrial building was over.
“At the time it was the largest employer, and many of the secondary businesses relied on that facility for business. The factory was a hub for downtown Shelton and Derby because it employed so many people,” Lenart said.
The incident shook the Valley – and the fire itself was a major challenge for hundreds of volunteer firefighters who worked around the clock to get the blaze under control.
Lenart will touch upon the way the fire services handled the fire by interviewing men and women who were there.
Both Lenart’s father, Thomas Lenart, Sr. and his grandfather, the late Edward Cotter, were there.
In fact, March 1 did not pass by without Cotter telling the family about what happened the day – a practice that local fire departments in Derby and Shelton also do through social media.
“You can talk to people and they’ll tell you where they were when the factory exploded,” Lenart said.
Keep an eye out for “The Volley Chief Podcast” episode to drop later this month or in February.
If you have a story to tell from the factory fire, shoot Lenart an email at [email protected].
