East Hartford, CT – Trash can fire contained by sprinkler system at elderly public housing building

A fire in an elderly public housing building on Thursday morning displaced four residents due to sprinkler damage, officials said.

Fire crews responded to an alarm at the Raymond Miller Gardens on the 400 block of Main Street at 11:27 a.m. There, they found smoke coming from a second-floor apartment due to a small fire in a trash can, according to Assistant Fire Chief Eric Munsell.

The fire was kept small by a sprinkler and extinguished within seconds by responding firefighters with minimal damage, Munsell said. According to the fire marshal, the fire was caused by “smoking material” being discarded in the trash can.

No residents were injured from the fire, but the sprinkler did cause water damage in several apartments, and has displaced four residents in four apartments while the East Hartford Housing Authority works to restore the apartments, Munsell said.

Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers