It was destroyed by Hurricane Irene, destroyed again by Superstorm Sandy and now it’s been destroyed a third time by renovations gone wrong.
The multi-family house on Merwin Avenue in Milford was being raised on stilts Monday as part of a renovation effort following Superstorm Sandy when a gust of wind blew it over, causing the house to collapse and fall nine feet to the ground, according to fire officials at the scene. It happened around 5 p.m.
Seven contractors were underneath the house when it fell. Six managed to get out of the way, but head contractor Fabian Pinta was cut near his eye as the house came down. He was taken to Saint Raphael’s Hospital for treatment.
“We were about to pack up, put everything up because it was starting to get dark and it was time, and then the wind all of a sudden just picked up,” said Francisco Morgan, a contractor with FLP General Construction, who was working on the house. “We heard a crack and we saw it… just falling.”
Crews started raising the house on Friday to get it up to flood code. Contractors said the job was almost finished and the plan was to secure the stilts tomorrow with concrete.
The home, which belongs to a member of the Fairfield Police Department, was damaged last year during Superstorm Sandy and hasn’t been lived in since. Lussier does not live in the house and rents it out.
Neighbor Paul Hartmann said he was sitting at his desk and looked out the window to see the house tumble down. Hartmann said the house has been exposed to at least three floods, the first in 1992.
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“It’s taken a beating,” Hartmann said. “I think it was built around 1939.”
OSHA and the Milford Building Department are investigating the incident.
