Plainfield, CT – An overnight fire that began in the chimney rapidly extended throughout a single-family Moosup home causing extensive damage and displacing two adults.
At approximately 1:15 a.m. on Wednesday, January 17th, 2024, the Moosup Fire Department was dispatched for a reported chimney fire at 122 Goshen Rd. While en route the Quinebaug Valley Emergency Communications (QVEC) advised units that additional information from the caller indicated the fire may have extended into the walls of the home.
Upon the arrival of the first fire officer, a working fire was called and a 1st alarm structure fire assignment was requested, bringing in departments from all of Plainfield as well as multiple surrounding towns.
The first due apparatus, Ladder 194, was ordered to take a position in the driveway and immediately stretched an attack line to the basement where the fire was rapidly spreading within the walls. As additional units arrived on the scene crews made an additional interior attack on the 1st and 2nd floors as the fire traveled up the walls along the chimney. Just when it appeared crews had the upper hand on the fire, heavy smoke began billowing from the eaves on the C (Rear) and D (Right) sides of the structure. The fire had rapidly extended through the walls to the ceiling and had spread throughout the home.
The fire became an extremely manpower-intensive endeavor as crews were required to conduct a coordinated interior and exterior attack on multiple floors and the roof to access the fire. Due to the building’s construction, numerous pockets of fire were completely inaccessible from crews operating inside or outside respectively. Crews also had to spend a significant amount of time removing plaster from the walls to access the fire.
The earlier decision to place the first due tower in the driveway became imperative to the operation as it became apparent that firefighters needed to vertically vent the fire through the roof of the A/D (Front Right) corner of the building. This also allowed heat to rise from the structure instead of spreading horizontally as well as allowed firefighters to get water on the fire from above, reaching areas that interior crews were still unable to access.
With the narrow roadway being even narrower due to the fresh snow banks the initial apparatus placement is what had to last throughout the fire. The decision for a ladder and tanker to take the driveway and a tower and engine to take the A side of the residence became the ideal placement as the scene unfolded.
As the temperatures plummeted to approximately 17 degrees Fahrenheit, additional mutual aid crews were brought in with manpower to assist the firefighters who had already been on the scene for over an hour working to get the fire under control.
To ensure crews on the scene maintained a constant water supply, a draft site was established at Ekonk Brook approximately 1 mile from the scene allowing tankers to shuttle water to the fire.
The fire was placed under control approximately 3 hours into the fire but crews remained on the scene until approximately 9:30 a.m. overhauling the structure and conducting the fire investigation.
Following an origin and cause investigation, the Plainfield Fire Marshal’s office has deemed the fire accidental, starting as a chimney fire and extending to the rest of the home.
No injuries were reported as a result of the fire and the American Red Cross is assisting 2 adults who were displaced.
Agencies that responded, or were dispatched included the Moosup Fire Department, Central Village Fire Company, Atwood Hose Fire Company, Plainfield Fire Co #1, Sterling Fire Department, Oneco Fire Department, Danielson Fire Department, South Killingly Fire Department, Voluntown Fire Company, Mortlake Fire Company, Dayville Fire Company, American Legion Ambulance, and the Plainfield Police Department.
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