Duplex fire displaces two families

NEW LONDON — A fast-moving fire fueled by high winds displaced two families Monday afternoon on the city’s east side.
At 3:01 p.m. Nov. 3, the New London Fire Department responded to a duplex fire at 627/629 E. Pine St. Callers reported heavy, gray smoke coming from the west-side garage shortly before 3 p.m.
Mike and Mary Collar, who live next to the New London Historical Village, said they noticed something unusual as they stepped outside with their grandson, Aidan.
“Mary came out of the house and the first thing she said was, ‘That’s not normal,’” said Mike Collar.
The two saw smoke coming from the garage and immediately moved toward the duplex. Aidan ran across the railroad tracks toward the homes at 627 and 629. He pounded on the door of 627 but got no response. At 629, a man answered, and Aidan shouted for him to get out because the building was on fire.

Mike called 911 while Aidan continued to alert occupants. Strong west winds pushed smoke rapidly across the property.
“By the time we got off the phone with 911 she really started breaking through,” Mike said. “It was like being in a tornado.”
An occupant of 629 briefly went back inside to retrieve his car keys and emerged carrying two cats inside his coat. He moved vehicles out of the driveway before firefighters arrived.
According to a statement from New London Fire Department Capt. Don Conat, crews arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from one of two garages located in the center of the duplex.
The roof was collapsing onto a burning vehicle inside the west garage.
Firefighters quickly knocked down the vehicle and garage fire and kept flames from spreading into the living areas on either side of the duplex. Both units sustained smoke damage. The garage and roof received extensive damage, and the structure may be considered a total loss, Conat said.
The tenant of 627 told firefighters she had struck and killed a dog earlier in the day while driving her 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
She said her Jeep started running very poorly after striking the dog and knew that her serpentine belt had shredded in the engine compartment because of the crash with the dog.
She was able to drive it home, where it stalled in the garage. She believes the Jeep may have ignited after she left for work.
No one from that unit was home at the time of the fire.
The tenant lives there with her three young children and her mother. Firefighters could not initially locate a pet cat, but she told responders the cat was likely hiding.
The tenant of 629 said her adult son and daughter live with her. Her son, 34, was upstairs when a neighbor alerted him to the fire. He evacuated with two cats. Firefighters later found the third cat alive in the duplex.
The American Red Cross was contacted to assist both families.
New London firefighters were assisted by Hortonville-Hortonia Fire Department, Gold Cross Ambulance, New London First Responders and New London Police Department.