Community Corner

"Suspicious" Fire Damages 19th Century Barn Behind Curtis Street Home

Fire inspectors were still investigating a Sunday night fire near midnight that destroyed the hothouse and damaged the barn behind a Curtis Street home.

A 19th century barn behind a Curtis Street home was damaged and an adjoining hothouse was destroyed by a fire Sunday night that officials are calling "suspicious."

Meriden Fire Inspector Charles Peach was still looking for the cause of a 10 p.m. blaze behind the house at 185 Curtis St. near Midnight Sunday night.

Peach said the fire began in an attached "hothouse" or small greenhouse that is close to Ann Street, and then leapt up to destroy beams and exterior walls of the barn. The cause was not immediately apparent, according to Peach, but he had ruled out an electrical fire.

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Peach said that the fire was suspicious because of the appearance of undisclosed party paraphernalia in the nearly-empty barn that didn't appear to belong to the owner. At about 11:45 p.m., Peach was about to phone Meriden Police to send an officer to make a report on the incident, and that he was headed back into the structure to look for more out-of-place items to help him learn what caused the blaze.

The initial call came into the department at about 10:15 p.m., according to Fire Chief James Trainor. Around that time, homeowner Bob Arpaia said he was watching a movie near the front of his house when he heard knocks at his front door. 

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"The whole neighborhood knocked on my door. I had no idea," Arpaia said. He said he ran to the back door, looked out the window and saw his entire yard lit up.

"Fire was coming out the front door (of the hothouse)," he said. "I thought the whole house was going to go up."

Arpaia, his female tenant, and his dog left the building, and firefighters arrived on-scene quickly. No one was reported to be injured in the blaze, and Arpaia stored only a few items in the structure - including a gas can, which the fire did not reach. 

The house and barn, according to Arpaia, were both built in 1895. He bought the property in 2007 and said he has been restoring it. Arpia added that he hasn't had trouble at the location before, but that about a month and a half ago he cut power to the two floodlights that illuminated the yard to save on energy costs.

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