Crime & Safety

Fire Log: Leaves Ignite on Election Day; Wires Down on Halloween

Firefighters also responded to an accident on the parkway and improper burning at a nursery this week.

Two-Car Accident on Halloween:

New Canaan Fire Company No. 1 responded to an accident on the Merritt Parkway southbound between exits 37 and 36 at 10:14 p.m. on Saturday. Firefighters applied a drying agent to the road and assisted police near the on ramp while patients were transported to Stamford Hospital.


Debris Burned Improperly:

A caller reported burning at the rear of Frogtown Nursery at 4:27 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. Firefighters found that construction was being burned and advised the occupant not to burn anymore.


Leaves Ignite Under Van:

A fire started when a van pulled over on top of a pile of leaves at the intersection of Farm Road and South Avenue on Election Day, Nov. 3, at around 1:15 p.m. EMS in the area extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived to clean up the mess.


Wires Down in Yard:


A branch took cable and telephone wires down in the yard of a house on Harrison Avenue Saturday, Oct. 31. Firefighters responded at 3:41 p.m. and taped off the area while Connecticut Light & Power was notified.


Overcooked Food Activates Alarm at Group Home:

Stamford Police forwarded the call about an alarm at the New Canaan Group Home Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 6:21 p.m. while town phone lines were down. New Canaan Fire Company No. 1 subsequently responded to the scene.


CO Alarms, Odors Investigated:


The alarm company advised the occupants to evacuate a house on White Oak Shade shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, when the carbon monoxide alarm was activated in the furnace area of the basement. The occupants smelled a gas-like odor and turned off the furnace but no one was feeling ill. Firefighters metered zero CO readings at the scene.

Firefighters also followed up on a report of a furnace problem on Smith Ridge Road on Monday, Nov. 2 around 12:15 p.m., and a gas smell at a house on Locust Avenue on Tuesday, Nov. 3 around 5:15 p.m.

A crew picked up zero CO readings at a house on Lambert Road where the alarm was activated at 2:37 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1.


False Alarms—10:

Firefighters responded to ten false alarms in the past week, including an alarm set off by maintenance personnel working in New Canaan Country School's Welles Building on Wednesday, Oct. 28, a system malfunction at the Congregational Church and Nursery School on Friday, Oct. 30, horns and strobes activated for no apparent reason at Outback Teen Center on Sunday, Nov., and unfounded alarms at the Country Club's paddle hut and the Joseph A. Bank building at 70 Main Street on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Shower steam, painting, and home construction also prompted false alarms.

On Halloween a smoke machine set off the alarm at a house on Sherwood Lane.


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