More than 100 firefighters battled a blaze at a vacant building Wednesday morning in what officials called one of the largest fires in New Haven in nearly 30 years.
Firefighters have been battling a large fire at a commercial building on the corner of River and Ferry streets in New Haven for hours. The assistant fire chief said this is one of the largest fires in the city in 29 years.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the fire in the industrial building, which houses several businesses. Two people were in the building when firefighters arrived and declined transportation to the hospital, officials said.
The building serves as an automotive repair place and food trucks, as well as lots of dry storage, are stored inside, officials said.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the call came in around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday and some people reported hearing explosions.
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The fire was escalated to four alarms, bringing in crews from surrounding towns.
“As we made our first initial attempt to get in the building, we realized it was a maze. We realized the conditions inside the building were poor. The battalion chief at that time decided this was going to be a defensive fire," Assistant Chief Dan Coughlin, of the New Haven Fire Department, said.
Flames and heavy smoke were visible from Interstate 95 on Wednesday morning.
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No injuries have been reported.
Police said there is heavy congestion in the area and they are asking people to avoid the area.
The FD is out with a large fire in the area of Ferry St/River St. Please avoid the area.
— New Haven Police Department (@NHPDnews) October 30, 2024
The cause of the fire is under investigation and officials said that investigation will take some time.
“The size of the building and the amount of debris from the collapse inside, the fire got hot enough to warp all the metal support beams inside the building. You have a body shop, what looks like an auto repair shop where we had numerous explosions from the gas tanks,” Coughlin said.
The fire danger is very high in New Haven County as well as in New London, Middlesex and Windham counties.
It is listed as extreme in Hartford, Fairfield, Litchfield and Tolland counties.
