Firefighters Fight Blaze of $1.2 Million Dollar Southbury Home Owned by Oxford Company

A vacant, 1.2 million dollar house on Vista View Drive in Southbury burned down early Monday morning.

No one was living in the home, which was owned by Oxford development group Pilot’s Mall LLC.

Early investigations by the Southbury Fire Marshal's office — with on-site assistance from the Office of the State Fire Marshal — suggest the fire started at the house’s electric service meter.

The Southbury Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call at 12:24 a.m.  Because of the lack of public water supply on the street, they were backed by water supply tankers from Oxford, Middlebury, Woodbury, Newtown and Roxbury.  The Oxford Volunteer Fire Department sent 22 firefighters, two tanker trucks, an engine and a ladder truck, Oxford Fire Chief Scott Pelletier said.

The lack of fire hydrants was an issue for firefighters in last .  However, Fire Marshal Henry Stormer said that by the time neighbors called the fire department, the flames were at the point where “losing the home was a foregone conclusion.” 

Stormer said the town’s limited public water system has been a problem for decades, but that it was in no way a unique one. 

“It’s just the way life is in a rural town in Connecticut,” said Stormer.