3-Alarm Chapel Street Fair Haven Fire Injures Firefighter, Citizen

NEW HAVEN, CT — More than two hours after first being reported, the smoke was still dense on Chapel Street in the Fair Haven section of the city. Though by around 3:30, two hours after the fire, which ended up being a three-alarm, firefighters had a "handle" on the blaze that sent thick black smoke billowing up and across the Quinnipiac River, and visible from the Q bridge.

Patch was on the scene of the blaze in a two and a half story auto repair shop located behind a wood frame three-story residential multifamily building at 92 Chapel St.

New Haven Emergency Management director Rick Fontana shared that one firefighter was injured, albeit not seriously. And, one citizen suffered burns, but he said that injury also was not serious.

On the back side of the building, where ladder trucks had firefighters working to extinguish flames that could still be seen, EMTs were with that firefighter, who would later be taken from the scene on a gurney.

Mutual aid came from East Haven, West Haven and Hamden fire departments to cover stations across the city.

Fontana said that the homes at 92, and 96 Chapel were evacuated, and another adjacent building had a shelter-in-place. Several streets were closed in the vicinity.

WTNH News 8 reported later on Thursday that four firefighters were injured, and nearby homes were evacuated.