Paul Bass Photo
Licensed pipefitter CJ Timon, in foreground, with apprentice Hunter Murphy preparing to install another sprinkler head Monday as Box 63 becomes "The Place 2 Be."
CJ Timon and his colleagues made sure Monday that New Haven’s new “place 2 be” will be a safe “place 2 be.”
Timon is a licensed pipefitter. He was part of a crew from the Cheshire-based Fire Protection Team (FPT) on scene at a former firehouse that became a series of restaurants, from the circa-1980s Fitzwilly’s fern bar to, most recently, the pandemic-casualty Box 63 restaurant. They were installing 10 fire sprinklers as part of a rehab of the building so it can reopen as a brunch bar called The Place 2 Be. (Click here to read a previous story about those plans.) Because the renovation includes moving around walls, the state code required the installation of new sprinklers.
By 10 a.m., when he paused a moment for a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program, Timon and company had already installed three.
Timon is enthusiastic about his job.
“We’re spreading some one-inch sprinkler pipe. We’ve got a pipe-threading machine. We’re getting the water out of the pipes” and “putting some new sprinkler heads in,” he said.
Growing up in Colchester, Timon said, “I wasn’t a bookworm. I wasn’t going to college.” He ended up in a career-prep “college” of sorts: a four-year paid pipefitter apprenticeship. He put in the 10,000 hours to obtain his state license three years ago.
He remembered one lesson early in his apprenticeship when he was working in the basement of the old Hartford Courant building on Broad Street in the state’s capital.
“I pulled a sprinkler head with the water not being fully drained out of the system. These sprinkler systems get pressured from anywhere from 50 PSI to 200 PSI.
“I pulled a sprinkler head out of the ceiling. It had about 5 PSI in the gauge. I met 500 gallons of water. I could not stop the water form coming out. I was soaked head to toe. Thankfully it was in the boiler room. So there was no water damage.”
It turned out an old gauge on the pipe had incorrectly read that there was no water pressure in the system.
The lesson he took away: “I will never pull a sprinkler head again without having a shut-off valve on it!”
The Hartford Courant has since sold the building and become a virtual newsroom.
Timon, on the other hand, continues showing up in person every day ensuring that the public has spaces where it can gather safely. Tuesday you’ll find him in Baltic (yes, that’s a Connecticut community, outside of Norwich) working with the crew putting in sprinklers at a new warehouse.
Click on the video to watch the conversation with CJ Timon on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. Click here to subscribe to WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” and here to subscribe to other WNHH programs.