Fire marshal: Accidental fire destroys historic building
SEYMOUR — Rui Fang opened Seymour Spa in December 2021. But less than five months later she watched her hardwork go up in flames.
“It’s all gone,” Rui said Thursday.
Rui’s spa is one of five businesses destroyed in a fire at 4 Bank St. Wednesday which destroyed a historic building in the downtown area. The fire marshal said the investigation’s preliminary findings appear to indicate the fire was the result of a store employee at one of the businesses “accidentally igniting wax while polishing some merchandise.”
Rui noticed the fire after she smelled smoke.
“I smelled smoke. I moved out, nobody got hurt. So that’s lucky,” Rui said.
No one was seriously hurt in the fire or in the efforts to contain it, but recovery for these local businesses may take time and, according to the town’s economic development director Sheila O’Malley, their loss presents a challenge to revitalizing the downtown area.
Rui said she’s now figuring out next steps too.
“I need to think about it, because
everything is messy now,” she said.
First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said the street would remain closed for some time. She said the town will see what it can do to get the affected owners help from the state.
She said the loss of a historic building was sad, yet the town would rebound.
“We are saddened for the loss of the building. The building is over 100 years old and it was a staple in downtown Seymour for quite some time,” she said. “With the loss of the five small businesses downtown, it hurts us to see them
lose everything. But as a community, we will come together around them and help them get back on their feet in one way or another.”
Firefighters responded to 4 Bank St. — the actual address is 141 Main St. — shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday for a reported structure fire and arrived to find heavy fire conditions, said Fire Marshal Timothy P. Willis on Thursday.
Willis said crews began an initial interior attack and were met with heavy fire before conditions began to deteriorate above them and fire spread throughout the common cockloft above the businesses.
“At this point, a decision was made to go to a defensive attack,” Willis said.
With firefighters working to extinguish the flames, thick layers of smoke covered the areas around the building. Smoke lingered in the air for about five hours as roughly 150 firefighters battled the blaze.
Two firefighters were treated at the scene for minor injuries, Willis said. One tenant was evaluated.
Willis said the building was deemed a “total loss.”
Mutual aid fire units from Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Beacon Fall and Bethany responded to aid Seymour during Wednesday’s fire.
The area was closed to traffic while crews remained at the scene.
The fire remains under investigation by Willis’s office, with the help of Seymour police and representatives of the Connecticut State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit.
The fire’s destruction of several business has complicated efforts for Seymour ’s downtown revitalization, but O’Malley said it also could create opportunities.
“You don’t want to have this loss of business, and especially an entire cluster of businesses,” she said. “It makes it more challenging, but it presents itself with new opportunities. There may be places to relocate these businesses, maybe it’s a better spot for them. Maybe you develop or attract other businesses that come in that want to take their place. The idea is to revitalize the downtown, and we’re going to do that by trying to relocate these companies or drawing new ones.”
Erin Meskill, who runs the neighboring Greenwich Workshop, said recovering from a fire is a long process, based on her experience. She said the building the business is in had a fire in August 2020. She said the business is only now starting to rebuild, having hired an architect and construction company. She said the building now has a roof and is finishing exterior work and is planning on moving back in soon.
Meskill said she was there yesterday, checking on the construction progress when she found out about the fire. It reminded her of her own misfortune.
“We’re starting our repair work finally and it was pretty scary. Yesterday, the building burned right next door, and I started feeling all those feelings again, of oh my God,” Meskill said. “It’s definitely been a long haul and nothing that I wish upon anyone.”