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$4.5 Million Mansion Burns in Thanksgiving Day Blaze

This article is a direct street report from our correspondent and has not been edited by the 1st Responder newsroom.

On the rainy Thanksgiving afternoon of Thursday, November 28, 2024, most firefighters in lower Fairfield County were getting ready for dinner with their families and firehouse families. Around 3:50 pm, Weston Police Dispatch received 911 calls reporting a house fire in the unit block of Weston Rd, just over the Westport line. Weston Car 2 quickly reported to dispatch that a firefighter on the scene was reporting the garage to be fully involved and extending to the house. Weston volunteers assembled and responded to the scene with all suppression apparatus, as well as Wilton Engine 4. On arrival, crews found heavy fire quickly making its way through a 2-story, 9,378 sqft home, worth about $4.5 million. Suppression efforts were hampered by the area being mostly unhydranted, and the one hydrant companies had laid in from, had the supply hose being very soon run over by a car, bursting the line. Tankers from surrounding towns were started to the scene as companies worked to repair the burst section of line and establish a secondary water supply. Firefighters from Weston, Westport, Easton, Wilton, and tankers from Redding and Ridgefield spent several hours working to extinguish the fire, which consumed the entire home. Weston Car 2 placed the recall of alarm around 6:30 pm, more than 2-1/2 hours after the time of alarm. Over 20 people were at the home at the time getting ready for Thanksgiving themselves. Thankfully there were no injuries. The American Red Cross is assisting the occupants and Danbury's Salvation Army Canteen provided much-needed refreshments to crews on the scene. This fire was determined to be caused by a turkey fryer inside the garage. A stark reminder to all about the dangers of frying turkeys. Another thing to be thankful for following this fire is the recent rain, which has brought the fire danger from "Extreme" to "Low" within the last week. Fire officials say that if the rains hadn't come, the outcome of today's fire could have been VERY different.

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SAYJE BENJAMINCorrespondent

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