Putnam, CT – Putnam Police Officers performing nightly patrols spotted smoke coming from a storage building owned by the Providence and Worcester Railroad Monday night allowing firefighters to quickly extinguish the fire.
At approximately 10:20 p.m. on Monday, May 27th, 2024, Putnam Police Officers discovered black smoke coming from the top of a garage door of a large commercial storage building at 70 May St prompting a 1st alarm to be struck for the Putnam Fire Department.
With all of the departments on the 1st alarm assignment being volunteer (responding from home), minutes can make the difference in a fire. With the early notification, and the police breaking a window to find active fire in the building, fire officers arriving on the scene minutes later were able to contain the fire with extinguishers until apparatus could arrive on the scene. With the fire contained, mutual aid companies from Attawaugan, East Putnam, and the South Killingly/Danielson FAST Team were canceled en route.
When the first truck, Squad 478, arrived on the scene a “trash line” (a front bumper-mounted attack line) was deployed to extinguish the remaining fire which had been contained to combustibles on the ground. With the building being constructed of metal with an open floor plan there wasn’t a chance for the fire to take off.
Crews remained on the scene for over an hour ventilating the building and assisting the Fire Marshals Office.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Putnam Fire Marshals Office.
Agencies that responded, or were dispatched, included the Putnam Fire Department, East Putnam Fire Department, Attawaugan Fire Department, South Killingly Fire Department, Danielson Fire Department, Putnam EMS, Putnam Police Department, and the Putnam Fire Marshals Office.
