Thomas MacMillan Photo
(Updated Saturday 9:24 p.m.) Shantee Sims was watching Lifetime in her Dixwell Avenue apartment Friday afternoon when she smelled smoke. She opened the door and saw the stairs were on fire.
Later that afternoon, she looked on as firefighters fought to contain a three-alarm fire that sent smoke billowing out from her apartment building at 515 Dixwell Ave.
As of 4:53 p.m., flames were shooting out of the roof of the building. Gallons and gallons of water poured into the streets.
At 5:15 p.m., Fire Chief Mike Grant held a brief press conference outside the flaming building. He said the building is “a total loss.” Flames continued to burn in the “cockloft,” a crawl space between the top floor’s ceiling and the roof, he said. He said there was no word yet on whether anyone was injured, how many people lost their homes, or where the fire started.
By 6 p.m., the fire was under control, but Chief Grant said the building was a “total loss.” There were no serious injuries reported. The cause of the fire was unknown as of Friday afternoon. Fire Marshal Joe Cappucci later said the fire was an arson.
Sims, 26, who lives on the second floor, said she first smelled smoke at around 3:20 p.m. Friday.
When she saw the fire on the stairs, she and her brother grabbed water to put out the fire. When that didn’t work, they grabbed the fire extinguishers in the hall, but they were empty. Sims then grabbed her 1‑year-old son and rang every doorbell of the eight apartments in the building. She and her son got out safely.
The white building, on the northeast corner of Dixwell and Division, holds an empty barber shop — Precision Kuts — and eight apartments. The landlord is Jerry Vartelis of Stratford.
Around 3:30 p.m., the three-story building at 515 Dixwell Ave. was completely engulfed in smoke. Three ladder trucks streamed water into the top floor.
Mayor John DeStefano joined the crowd of onlookers, as 54 firefighters from 12 fire trucks, ambulances, and police tended to the scene. Fire hoses snaked down the streets as firefighters drew water from hydrants as far as a block away.
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Betty Butler (pictured), who lives on the third floor, showed up after the fire started to survey the damage. She said she has a renter’s insurance policy that will help her recover from the loss.
Mike Towles, a 62-year-old retired New Haven cop who has lived in the building for 18 years, watched from the street. He said he wasn’t at home when it happened.
“It’s devastating,” he said, “but we’ll get through it.”
A blue house next door on Dixwell Avenue was also evacuated. Sometime before 4 p.m., the fire spread to a green house on the other side, at 297 Division St. Four apartments there were evacuated. Firefighters extinguished the fire there and then used the second floor to spray water on the main fire.
Rhonda Blakely, who’s 57, said she has lived there for 40 years.
“Where am I going to live?” she asked.
Neighbors watched from behind yellow tape, covering their mouths from the smoke.
By 6 p.m. the fire was under control. The building was shell of its former self.
The fire happened just a few hundred yards from where Radcliffe Deroche was shot and killed on Easter weekend. A memorial of candles was laid at the curbside.
