Life Safety Compliance Officer Frank Filardo and Fire Marshal Scott Dillon at the scene.
A 65-year-old man suffered first-degree burns from a fire in his downtown apartment, and at least nine households relocated to hotel rooms after the flames were quenched.
That was the result of a fire that erupted Tuesday inside a 14th-floor apartment in George Crawford Manor, an elderly and disabled apartment complex at 90 Park St. run by the housing authority. Fire investigators are still probing the fire’s cause.
The smoke triggered one alarm that activated the building’s sprinkler system, quelling most of the blaze by the time firefighters arrived on scene. The fire did not spread to other apartments, according to Fire Marshal Scott Dillon, but it severely injured the apartment’s inhabitant.
Firefighters carried the victim down 14 flights of stairs. The man arrived at Yale-New Haven Hospital with possible plans to transfer to the Bridgeport Hospital Burn Center for treatment.
According to multiple neighbors, the man has one arm and had recently come from medical rehab for his hip. Firefighters had met the injured man the day before the fire; they had been called to help him get up from a fall.
Assistant Fire Chief Justin McCarthy reported that another resident suffered “minor” injuries during the evacuation and went to Yale-New Haven Hospital as well.
The scene at 90 Park St.
While the fire did not appear to damage other apartments, the sprinkler system rained on the 16-story building’s elevator circuits, damaging them.
“We are happy to report that all of our high rises are sprinklered,” said Shenae Draughn, the Housing Authority of New Haven’s executive vice president.
Crews from the housing authority, fire department, Red Cross, and Livable City Initiative spent the afternoon knocking on the building’s 109 apartments to check on tenants. The city secured at least 50 hotel rooms at the New Haven Hotel and Best Western for tenants who would not be able to use the stairs. A line of yellow school buses formed along Park Street, preparing to transport tenants to the hotels.
Brian Randall, Dian Garvin, and Noko Dorsey.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the Housing Authority identified nine individuals and families who needed to relocate — likely for at least 48 to 72 hours, the estimated time it would take for the elevator repairs.
The city reserved rooms for people living on and above the fifth floor with disabilities that hinder them from going up and down stairs.
Dian Garvin, who uses a wheelchair and would have been unable to use stairs, packed soup cans, snacks, and water into a handful of plastic and reusable bags with her husband, Brian Randall. Garvin and Randall were headed to the New Haven Hotel. They arranged for a neighbor to take care of their two cats and managed to descend from their 11th floor apartment with help from city officials.
The couple have lived in George Crawford Manor for 22 years. They didn’t want to relocate after the fire, but had no choice given the lack of an elevator.
“I just want more people to feel safe here,” said Randall.
He said he knew the man who got burned by the fire and thought he should have had a home health aide, for everyone’s peace of mind.
Noko Dorsey, Garvin’s niece who lives on the fourth floor of the building, agreed. “They should have had somebody for him,” Dorsey said. “I’m a pray for him.”
Dorsey had packed a “couple of pairs of pants, some sneakers, my toothbrush.” She was headed to the Best Western hotel. “I don’t want to go that far,” she said.
“Well good luck to you,” Randall told Dorsey. “Call us.”
Pat Kelly, about to trek 11 flights.
As Garvin, Randall, and Dorsey lamented the move, Pat Kelly, a resident of the 11th floor, braced herself for the hike to her apartment. “That’s quite a lot of stairs at my age,” she said.
A pair of firefighters will stay at the complex overnight to assist the residents who stay, Dillon said.
Buses line up to carry tenants to hotels.