Fire guts multifamily home
By Quiet Corner Alerts
PUTNAM — Two firefighters were transported following a structure fire on Sunnyside Avenue April 12. The Putnam Fire Marshal’s office is investigating.
Around 6:20 p.m. the Putnam Fire Department was dispatched to 27 Sunnyside Ave. for a reported porch fire in a three-family residence. The Putnam Police Department was first on scene, with officers entering the building to assist multiple residents who were still inside. All the residents safely escaped.
The first fire unit arrived seconds later and reported heavy fire showing. A deck gun — a truck-mounted nozzle designed to flow high volumes of water — was immediately deployed to knock down the porch fire. Because a hydrant was right in front of the building, crews did not have to contend with the water supply limitations for the deck gun.
Mutual aid departments used additional hydrants on Fenner Street and Woodstock Avenue, supplying the scene with 400–500 feet of large-diameter hose (LDH) from each direction.
Once the porch fire was knocked down, crews deployed hand lines on three sides of the building to knock down visible fire from the exterior before going inside for an interior attack. Due to the building’s layout, crews were initially unable to access fire in the attic space above one of the apartments and spent approximately an hour working to locate and extinguish fire within attic voids and wall spaces.
During overhaul operations, as crews opened up walls and ceilings to check for hidden fire, personnel outside saw smoke pushing from an attic space. As interior crews made their way toward the area, conditions rapidly deteriorated, with heavy fire reported on the second floor.
Moments later, a flashover — a rapid ignition of superheated gases — occurred. Air horns sounded as crews evacuated the building and regrouped.
Smoke conditions minutes after flashover
According to the East Putnam Fire Department, one firefighter sustained minor injuries during the flashover and was transported to a local hospital.
A Firefighter Assist and Search Team (FAST) from the East Killingly Fire Department was already on scene, but all interior crews were able to get out without the need for FAST deployment.
Around the same time, a second firefighter was evaluated for a medical issue. The East Putnam Fire Department confirmed that the firefighter was also transported to a local hospital for evaluation and was later released.
Following the flashover, crews re-engaged the fire using a transitional attack, cooling the second floor from the exterior before making entry again. Firefighters worked for about 40 additional minutes, extinguishing visible fire as well as fire within the walls.
Final crews cleared the scene at approximately 10 p.m. No residents or bystanders were injured.
captions:
Battling Fire
Firefighter sprays inside the multifamily house that burned April 12 on Sunnyside Avenue, Putnam. Expanded photo array Wed. night on our FB page. More photos on page 4. Photo courtesy of Quiet Corner Alerts.
Captions, page 4:
Aftermath. Linda Lemmon photo
Charred porch floor boards. Linda Lemmon photo.
Spraying. Photo courtesy of Quiet Corner Alerts
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