New Britain

Fire Substantially Damages Building in New Britain

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An investigation is underway after a large fire damaged a building in New Britain on Tuesday morning.

Fire crews were called to a building at the intersection of Grove Hill and West Main Street around 2:15 a.m. after getting a report of a fire.

When crews arrived, they said they found heavy fire on the first and second floors.

Firefighters went inside of the building at first, authorities said, but fire conditions rapidly progressed. They searched the building to make sure it was not occupied.

Authorities said the building is vacant and nobody is living there. It's possible the building may have been under construction, but fire officials said they cannot confirm that at this point.

An investigation is underway after a large fire at a building in New Britain on Tuesday morning.

Shortly after, crews were pulled out of the building and fought the flames from outside due to structural concerns, according to fire officials.

"There’s substantial damage to the structure. The majority of the roof collapsed in due to the fire damage,” said New Britain Fire Department Assistant Chief Peter Towey.

Crews also had to battle the wind. At times, the smoke and embers could be seen blowing in the wind.

“The wind definitely did impact our operations and sort of assisted in letting the fire get going and sort of keep it going. It was a challenge for the crews. Crews did a great job. They stepped up and really put a great effort in to save this building,” said Towey.

At this time, most of the fire is out and crews are monitoring for hotspots.

"These old Victorian buildings, a lot of void spaces, so just making sure there’s no hot spots that ignite later," Towey added.

The cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation.

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