Fire Burns Through Top Floor of South Meriden Home

Firefighters put out a blaze on the second floor of a house on New Hanover Ave. in South Meriden Wednesday afternoon that one neighbor said looked like it sent billows of smoke "from Meriden to New Haven."

No one was injured in the fire, according to Meriden Fire Marshall Steve Trella. He said he’d heard from neighbors that residents of the rented home at 560 New Hanover Ave. had left the building at around 10 a.m. for work. An unnamed neighbor who reportedly saw flames coming out of the second floor windows called 911 before 1 p.m., Trella said, adding "It's very fortunate that a neighbor saw it."

At about 1:30 p.m., dozens of firefighters, their uniforms black with soot, were packing up their gear and Trella was headed into the house to find out what could have caused the fire.

"They did a really good job, they got access to the second floor immediately," Trella said of the units that responded.

As firefighters were arriving at the scene, Meriden Police had warned them that according to records there was live ammunition on the property of the home, which can explode in a fire.

"We took great care - none of the ammunition went off," Trella said. 

The department is trying to contact both the renters and the owner of the house, Trella said. City Assessor records name Vincent Gardon as the owner of the home. Neighbors say the man has another residence in Vermont.

Donna Jones, who lives directly across the street from the fire-damaged house, was driving home when she saw that her street was blocked off at the intersection of Main Street and New Hanover Avenue. She parked near there, hiked up to her home, which is on a hill, and watched the firefighters work from her front door. She said she didn't see flames, but massive amounts of smoke coming from the home.

Two other women who declined to give their names were driving back to work from lunch when they saw flames licking out of the home. They parked to see what was going on and were blocked in by firetrucks responding to the incident, so they ended up staying to watch the firefighters work.