Nursing Home/Senior Living, Residential Hamden, CT – Sprinkler system holds fire in check at senior apartment complex March 20, 2017 viking210 More than 40 elderly residents were evacuated during a fire early Friday morning at the Davenport Resident on Putnam Avenue, an eight-story building with 217 apartments that houses mostly senior citizens. Firefighters responded to the apartment complex, located at 125 Putnam Avenue, at 6:46 a.m. after receiving 911 calls and a report from the fire-alarm company that services the property, according to Deputy Chief Gary Merwede. The first-arriving crews found multiple elderly residents were in the process of evacuating the building and required assistance. The fire was determined to be in a third-floor apartment, according to Merwede. Merwede said that several residents were physically carried from stairwells by firefighters.Incident Commander Ronald Desroches called for a second alarm and all remaining Hamden Fire companies were dispatched to the scene and the fire was under control at approximately 7:25 a.m., according to Merwede. “American Medical Response was asked to set-up a triage center in the adjoining 135 Putnam Dunbar Residence,” Merwede said in a press release. “AMR paramedics triaged more than 40 elderly residents, with one elderly female patient requiring transport for exposure to smoke and cold temperatures. The Hamden CERT Team was activated and assisted with displaced residents during operations. Several disabled residents were protected in place in apartments or designated areas of refuge by firefighters above the fire floor. “The fire was contained to the room of origin. Companies worked to ventilate smoke, carbon monoxide and the other products of combustion on floors 3 – 8. The ventilation operation took more than an hour following suppression. After firefighters metered for a safe atmosphere, residents were escorted back to their apartments by Hamden CERT.” Merwede said the building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check and allowed firefighters to stop the fire from spreading to additional floors and apartments. “The fire-alarm system performed according to design and alerted the occupant of the fire apartment and all building residents of the emergency,” Merwede said. “Due to these fire protection systems, the resident in 313 and others on the fire floor were able to make it to the stairwell and either self-evacuate or await assistance from firefighters.” Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Lunn determined that the fire was most likely caused by an overheated extension cord. The management of the Davenport Residence is relocating any resident displaced by this emergency due to fire, water or smoke damage to vacant apartments elsewhere in the complex, according to Merwede.
