New Haven Fire
A fire late Saturday night damaged a century-old three-story home that now houses gynecologists’ offices.
A fire alarm activated around 11:30 p.m. Firefighters from Engine 9 from the Ellsworth Avenue station — including two new firefighters on their first-ever shift — arrived to find what Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Neville described as a “heavy smoke condition.”
Neville said firefighters got the two-alarm fire under control within about an hour. The cause of the fire, which began in the basement, remains under investigation, according to Neville.
The building was empty at the time of the fire. No firefighters were injured.
The 4,266-square-foot home, at 1435 Chapel St., was built around 1900, according to city records. It is across the street from Yale-New Haven Hospital’s St. Raphael campus, between Beers Street and Sherman Avenue. Like many older homes near the hospital, it was eventually converted from a residence to medical offices.
The fire spread to the first floor. It was extinguished before rising higher.
“The building is so old, and it’s been remodeled and refurbished so many times, there are so many open voids. The fire had many good channels to move upward,” reported Battalion Chief Billy Gould. Gould said the firefighters did “an outstanding job exposing the hidden, extending fire and kept it from moving up past the first floor while operating in heavy smoke and heat.” That made the difference, he said.
“Those buildings were originally built with a lot of voids and channels,” Gould noted. Remodelers added drop ceilings and new walls — and new void.
“They’re going to have remodel again.”