Fires Under Investigation in Ansonia, Seymour

PHOTO: Ansonia Nature CenterAnsonia police are trying to figure out who burned down a pavilion at the Ansonia Nature Center over the weekend.

At about 10:20 a.m. Saturday (Sept. 3), the pavilion near the Red Wing Pond House burned to the ground.

The Ansonia fire happened one day after playground equipment at the Anna LoPresti School burned in Seymour.

The Ansonia Fire Marshal has deemed the Nature Fire fire arson, according to a press release from the Ansonia Police Department. 

There is no electrical service to the pavilion and upon investigation the Ansonia Fire Marshall deemed the fire arson,” Lt. Andrew Cota wrote in a press release. The case is under investigation by both the Fire Department and the Police Department. At this time there are no identifiable suspects.”

The fire was reported by a jogger on one of the nature center trails, according to Ansonia Nature Center director Donna Lindgren. 

She received a call after 10 a.m. about the fire. Lindgren said she went right to the nature center. 

When I got here the fire department was here, and everything was burned to the ground,” Lindgren said. 

The pavilion is a large wooden structure, with a shingled roof and support beams, but no walls. It has a fireplace in the corner and three large picnic tables. The Ansonia Fire Marshal, Ray Tingley, is away and unavailable for comment. Assistant Fire Chief Michael Eheman said he was not sure how much the pavilion was worth. 

The city runs the nature center and owns the pavilion and land. The organization put photos of the damage on its Facebook page Saturday morning — along with the police department’s phone number.

We all feel terrible,” Lindgren said. We all feel like we’re taking it personally. It’s a loss. The park is too important to too many people to have this happen.”

It is not clear whether the Ansonia fire is connected to the Seymour fire, said Seymour Fire Marshal Paul Wetowitz.

The Seymour fire caused anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 in damage to a playscape. Wetowitz called the fire non-accidental,” but stopped short of using the words arson or suspicious.

Ansonia will have a visit from its insurance company Thursday, according to Director of Public Works Michael Schryver. That’s when they will know how much damage was caused, he said. The city will then clean up the debris and start working toward building a new pavilion, Schryver said. 

FILE PHOTOThe Nature Center pavilion that burned was one of two at the Nature Center, Lindgren said. The other pavilion, which is larger and located near the soccer fields, was set on fire about 15 years ago, she said. It has since been rebuilt. 

The pavilion that burned Saturday was scheduled to be the site of an upcoming telescope building workshop, Lindgren said.

We’re talking about where else we can hold that,” Lindgren said. It has to have a fairly large space to hold it in. The construction of the telescopes will take up a lot of room.”

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the Ansonia Police Department at (203) 735‑1885.

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