On Monday, fire destroyed four buses at the Goodwill administrative office in North Haven. Firefighters say hot weather and dry mulch are partially to blame and video surveillance caught the whole thing.
“It looked like a war zone. That's how bad it was,” Phil Felicello, the transportation coordinator for the Goodwill Administrative office, said.
The fire gutted four of the Goodwill’s buses and damaged two other vehicles. In total it ruined around $200,000 worth of buses and vans.
It all happened on Felicello’s first day as transportation coordinator.
“I said, ‘What a first day this is.’ It's a bad omen, ha. But we got through it,” Felicello said.
The Goodwill is making do with its remaining vehicles and still taking around 200 clients and customers with disabilities to area Goodwills and back home. While they manage, it is how the fire got started that’s a bigger story.
Firefighters said one of the drivers parked the bus slightly over the mulch after 4:15 p.m. and the hot exhaust somehow ignited the mulch, which spread fire to the nearby vehicles.
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“I never would have thought of that either. It was crazy to think that mulch would ignite from the exhaust,” said Keith Lavalette, the vice president of programs for the Goodwill administrative office.
“It was just a black, charred mess, it was just terrible. The vehicles were just charred, that's the best way I can describe it,” Lavalette added.
The video shows the fire start and eventually engulf the buses. Firefighters said the dry and hot conditions didn’t help.
“We see it happening a lot in the fall as well, where cars park on top (of) piles of leaves in the street the same thing can occur, but this time of year typically what you see with mulch igniting like that and getting a car going is disposal of cigarettes or something to that effect,” North Haven Fire Chief Paul Januszewski said. “This was exhaust.”
Now as the cleanup begins and the insurance is called, Goodwill could use some help.
“Hopefully we get a donation of a bus today for a backup and hoping none of my vans break down,” Felicello said.
Until then, Goodwill is using the vehicles they have and they are renting an extra. They said in the future, they plan to remove the mulch and park as they always have. For now, employees are just counting their blessings.
“That nobody got hurt,” said Lavalette. “These were just vehicles, they can be replaced.”
If you would like to make a donation to the Goodwill you can stop by their office at 432 Washington Ave. in North Haven or call (203) 777-2000.
