Firefighters Extinguish Commercial Van Fire

Submitted release

About 24 volunteer firefighters responded to an early morning fire at 9 Gemstone Drive Friday. Upon arrival, fire units found a fully involved commercial van in a back residential driveway. The van was approximately 20 feet from the residence, 15 feet from a large, filled garage and about 10 feet away from a dozen canoes on racks.

Fire Capt. Wayne Goeben took command and Deputy Chief Craig Robbins managed scene operations.

Canton volunteer firefighters Johnathan Gotaski, Stephen Goeben and Myles Angel comprised the first fire attack team. Matt Bilts, Juan Gonzalez and Ryan Kerr were the second attack team.   

Firefighters used a hydrant on Torrington Avenue and laid 1,800 feet of fire hose into the site. Tanker 7 was available as an alternate water supply. 

Small explosions continued to flare up in the van, so firefighters quickly switched from a water-based attack to a foam-based attack to mitigate the hot spots that continued to flare up.

The fire was contained after about 15 minutes.

Canton’s ambulance was on stand by to provide rehabilitation to firefighters. No injuries were reported.

Town of Canton Volunteer Fire & EMS Department responded with:

Engines 1, 3, 4 & 6, Rescue 9, Tanker 7, Utility 8 and Canton’s ambulance.   

Engine 3 was used for water supply and Engine 4 for the fire attack.

The Connecticut Water Company and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection were notified of the incident because of fluids released during the fire and the use of foam during the incident.

The fire remains under investigation by the Fire Marshall’s Office.

Incident Commander Wayne Goeben observed, “The good news was that there is no news. It was a routine operation. Our volunteer firefighters, fire police and ambulance members did their work and everything went smoothly. In terms of resources, it was fortunate that we’re at the beginning of a holiday weekend, so many of our volunteer members are still in town.”  

The call came in at  5:37 a.m. July 1 and command was terminated at 7:38 a.m. Torrington Avenue and Erickson Avenue were shut down for about 30 minutes during the incident.