Officials: Cold adds challenges to double house fire in Weston
WESTON — With cold temperatures and low humidity, the Weston Fire Department revealed some of the challenges they faced battling two house fires about two hours apart from each other over the weekend.
The Weston department and almost a dozen other departments responded to a fire at a house on Hemlock Ridge Road around 1:20 p.m. and one at Davis Hill Road around 3:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The Hemlock Ridge Road home was destroyed and the attic of a wing, not the property’s main attic was damaged at Davis Hill Road, though it was not extensive, officials said.
During both fires, the temperature was between 8 and 12 degrees Weston Fire Marshal John Pokorny said.
“Everything froze,” Pokorny said.
This included the water surrounding the house that was used to put out the fires and hoses and nozzles on the trucks. Wetson uses a 2,500-gallon water tank truck, as there are not fire hydrants in town.
“It was nothing we couldn’t work around, but it was definitely a consideration,” he said about the freezing.
Pokorny said the departments were on the scene for many hours, and there was extensive cleanup.
He said no residents or firefighters were injured during the incidents.
“We are, frankly, obviously, devastated by this but feel incredibly lucky that nobody was hurt,” said a resident of the Hemlock Ridge Road home. “If it happened at a different time of day or under different circumstances, it definitely could’ve been different.”
The resident said their family feels “incredibly supported by the community and our family and friends and everybody in Weston.”
They also said they were grateful for the Weston Fire Department, EMS and other responders who came that day. They are not funding for their residence, though donations can be made to the Red Cross or to the Weston Fire Department.
About 40 members of the Weston Fire Department responded to Hemlock Ridge Road after the residents called 911, reporting a fire in the roof of their home.
“When we got there, the entire attic was on fire,” Pokorny said. “The roof was almost completely gone when we arrived, and it was starting to collapse into the second floor.”
“This is an unusually large house, even in Weston,” he said, adding it was about 7,000 square feet. “When you have that much fire, it’s a lot.”
Though the fire department does not yet know the exact cause of the fire, Pokorny said work was being done on the roof, so there was an opening, which let air into the roof.
He said that air entering the roof helped fuel the fire.
Last week, Pokorny said the department received a warning from the state about the low humidity that was expected over the weekend, which could have caused issues with fires.
“Between the wind and the low humidity, whatever happened, it really whipped up,” he said.
The Davis Hill Road house is about 600 feet away from the the Hemlock Ridge Road house. Officials received an alert from a fire alarm for that home about two hours after the first one started.
Pokorny said they believe an ember from the first house fire may have landed in a gutter or on the roof shingles, which could have aided in causing the second house fire, though it is still under investigation.
He said Westport and Wilton were the primary responders for the Davis Hill fire, as the Weston department was “completely committed” to the other fire, though about 10 Weston firefighters reported to that fire too.
“They really did an amazing job for us, backing us up,” Pokorny said about the mutual aid.
He said it was difficult to get the surrounding radio systems to communicate with one another, which is usual in Weston, though they are currently in the process of upgrading the radio systems.
Weston Fire Department has put out information to warn residents on how to prevent fires, which was shared last week before the fire. The advice focuses on improperly disposing hot coals or ashes from fire places, pellet or wood-burning stoves.
He said some people may believe the coal or ash is put out after 24 to 48 hours, and may dispose of it in their trash or somewhere outside, such as the woods.
“Fireplace ashes can really stay hot for three or four days,” he said.
With the low humidity and the wind, Pokorny said that all it takes is a spark to turn it into a fire.
Pokorny said fire safety revolves around furnace maintenance, chimney cleaning, keeping doors shut in the house and routinely checking alarm systems.