Ex-Clock Factory Has Another Fire

For the second time in a month, firefighters Tuesday raced to the abandoned clock factory on Hamilton and Wallace Streets.

The latest call came at 12:30 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find an expanse of the complex’s second floor filled with smoke after trash caught on fire, according to Battalion Chief Patrick Psarras from the Lombard Street station.

Thirty firefighters in all spent 15 minutes getting the one-alarm fire under control. No injuries were reported, and no one was found inside, Psarras said.

The crumbling 150,000-square-foot complex, built in stages from 1866 through 1937, has been vacant for years after a storied set of official and unofficial uses following its manufacturing heyday. An Oregon developer bought it with plans to build housing there. They failed to follow through on the project. 

In July they signed an agreement to sell the property to the Housing Authority of New Haven — once they clean up and secure the premises, which has yet to happen. At the time squatters were reported living on the property, including in an RV parked in the back courtyard off Wallace Street. (Read about that here.)

Earlier this month firefighters responded to a fire in the RV, according to Psarras.

He said Tuesday that NHFD investigators were on the scene to determine how the latest fire began and whether anyone was living there.

Housing authority Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton said property management remains the responsibility of the current owners.