A home being renovated in West Haven partially collapsed during a fire early Tuesday morning and has been deemed a total loss.
Flames ripped through the three-story house on Gilbert Street before 4 a.m. and firefighters were not able to go inside for fear of their safety.
The home was vacant and neighbors said someone who recently bought the house was renovating it and planned to finish the work by October.
"A house that’s vacant and fully involved like that, you don’t send men in. You just surround the ground," West Haven Fire Chief Peter Massaro said.
The back of the house was crumbling as firefighters battled the blaze and crews said the blaze was tough to fight because the building was under extensive renovation and was just a shell of a structure without walls where the fire started, so the flames spread quickly.
Neighbors in houses on either side of the building were evacuated as a precaution. They have since been allowed back in their homes.
No injuries were reported.
Local
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
