Fire Extinguished At Fairfield University

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield firefighters extinguished a trash fire that broke out on the Fairfield University campus on Sunday morning. At about 8:50 a.m. on May 28, firefighters received an automatic fire alarm from the Central Utilities Facility (CUF) building on the Fairfield University Campus.

Officials said the building is not normally occupied by staff or students. On duty Fairfield University maintenance personnel arrived at the building and found a rubbish fire inside the structure against a chimney and attempted to fight the fire, according to officials. (To sign up for Fairfield breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

“When fire units arrived scene, they found smoke coming from the roof in addition to a fire inside the structure,” officials wrote in a press release. “Fire Attack lines were advanced by fire personnel into the building and the Ladder truck was set up for roof access and to support operations. Due to the construction of the roof, extensive work was required by firefighters to remove burning built up roofing materials surrounding the 3-foot diameter steel chimney. The fire department Chief, Safety Officer and Fire Marshall were called to the scene during the fire. Interior crews were able to extinguish the fire and shut off the operating equipment without incident.

“With graduation last week, there were no students impacted by this incident and the university power grid was transferred to operate off of UI power pending inspection and repairs of CUF. No workers or firefighters were injured during the fire. Weather conditions were warm but did not impact operations.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Fairfield Fire Marshal's office. Recordings from video cameras installed in the area of the fire are being reviewed as a part of the investigation. The cause of the fire does not appear to be arson, officials said.

“Early notification of this alarm to the Fairfield Fire Department prevented more serious damage from occurring to the building,” Assistant Chief Roger Caisse, the incident commander, said in the news release.

A total of 10 Fairfield fire units responded to the incident and mutual aid coverage was provided by the Bridgeport and Westport fire department. The last fire unit cleared the scene at 11:18 a.m.

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