Tonight on Connecticut's news station,
a large fire and Meriden from Fy
night still impacting the area.
The update we have on the buildg
plus fifteen families displaced
after a massive unit fire in Ha.
How the Red Cross is stepping io
help and giving back and honoring those
who served the work of 1 communy
to honor the biggest sacrifice.
Now at 10, this is FOX 61
Connecticut's news station. Good
evening and thanks for joining .
I'm Carmen Chao.
We begin tonight with the largee
out of Meriden from Friday nigh,
as it took firefighters into the early
morning hours to put out the fl.
Today, crews evaluating the dame
to the building and any impacts
to the surrounding environment.
FOX 60 was Jake Garcia,
spent the day in Meriden and has
the latest on the investigation.
Jake
Well, Carmen Pratt St.
is finally back open in both
directions after portions were
blocked off for nearly 24 hours.
Crews spent most of the afternon
securing and evaluating the sce.
You know, we heard a lot of fire
trucks and we just thought it
was a random call because we,
you know, we get a lot of those.
And then we walked out and
all you saw was smoke, orange.
Lots of firefighters,
firefighters from nearly a dozen
departments around the area spent over
5 hours to get the fire under control,
flames pouring out of a vacant
building and spreading to anothr
building housing a plating
factory. The Chrome plant is a total loss.
One of the big problems we have is we
knew that the big building behind us was.
Not in real good shape to beginh
and we tagged that building as e
of those that we wouldn't go in.
Firefighters rescuing a man froe
building that housed the plating business.
He was taken to the hospital
and is expected to be OK.
Crews spent much of the afternon
evaluating the damaged building,
boarding up windows and placing
a fence around the property.
At this time, we do not believet
there is any harm or contamination in
the air or any reason to be concerned.
We obviously have an ongoing investigation.
Do not only our local fire Marshall's office,
but also in conjuncture with ste
and federal partners as well,
including the EPA and state DEEP offices,
an environmental recovery compay
and a hazardous waste and chemil
disposal company. We're on scene
for a couple of hours Saturday
afternoon, though no outside clp
could be seen. It took them a w,
but it was really going like once they
got one part out, another part would go.
So it was took a while to get under control.
And we reached out to the state
Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection to see if there was
any update to any environmental
evaluations conducted this afternoon,
but we have not heard back.
The cause of the fire remains ur
investigation in Studio Jake Ga,
Fox 61, Connecticut's news stat.
Jake, thank you.
Now 15 families are without a he
tonight after a massive fire in Hampden.
Here are photos during the actie
fire early this morning as
crews responded around 6:00 AM
today to a fire on Town Walk Dr.
Though the Hampden Fire Departmt
says everyone made it out,
Okay the Red Cross is stepping in to help.
The Red Cross has fifteen famils
with a total of 30 adults and fe
children with their immediate ns
and tips on recovering from fir.
The Hampden Fire Department is l
investigating the cause of the ,
but as you can see the fire
did leave extensive damage.
One person is dead and two are injured
in an early morning crash in Gr.
Police say this happened betweeo
cars around 10:00 AM on Buddington Road
between Poquinock Road and Drostic Drive.
When they arrived on the scene
the driver of 1 car was pronound
dead and the driver of the other
car and her five year old daughr
were taken to the hospital for
non life threatening injuries.
The accident remains under investigation
and out to the weather watch.
A perfect spring
day. There's no other way to describe it.
Here's a look at the green
and Meriden this afternoon,
the sunshine really bringing oue
colors of Mother Nature and we hope many
of you were able to get out and enjoy
this beautiful weather we finally got.
And now let's toss it over to
meteorologist Ryan Bretton and .
I'm hoping tomorrow will look the same.
It will look pretty good, Carme.
And finally, we are out of the weather
pattern we've been in for the lt
couple of weeks with all of the clouds.
And all of the rain.
Great day today up to about 75
from Windsor Locks to New Haven.
And even at this hour it's pretty mild.
64 in Harvard, 65 in New Haven.
Most of the outlying areas
are down into the 50s,
but still very comfortable.
At this hour of the night.
There is plenty of dry weather
back to the West.
However, there is a weak front p
around Michigan and parts of Oh,
and this will come in tomorrow night with
some showers or a period of some rain.
So the daylight hours of tomorrow will
be dry, but we may end it a lit.
Wet tomorrow night,
low temperatures tonight,
50s in Hartford,
New Haven and along the shoreli,
40s in most other spots.
Sunshine to start the morning tomorrow
and then clouds will be increasg
during the afternoon with rain possible
tomorrow evening and tomorrow n.
It's that front that I showed yu
to the West that will be coming
in but before it gets here.
Another warm day tomorrow with
temperatures into the low and mid 70s.
We'll look at that rain hour byr
and take a look at the seven da.
There is some good stuff to shou
coming up in just a little whil,
Carmen.
Thanks, Ryan. Now two local vets
received a helping hand today,
courtesy of House of Heroes Connecticut.
The nonprofit provides no cost
home repairs to veterans or ther
surviving spouses who are disab,
living on a fixed income,
or facing other challenges.
Today, volunteers spent their
time fixing up two homes,
one of them belonging to 82 year
old Air Force and Vietnam vetern
Charles Green of East Windsor.
Who was also a prisoner of war.
Green is immunocompromised
and can't be around people,
but his wife shared with us just
how much the project meant to t.
It means everything to me.
I can't believe what HOH did foy
husband just to bring him out of
his shell made a big difference.
He didn't think people cared, but they do.
But we do a ceremony for our veterans.
It's just so meaningful to so many of
them and so meaningful to me as well,
to be able to thank a veteran.
House of Heroes Connecticut expects to serve
its 200th veteran on Memorial Day weekend.
Frontline first responders were
recognized today as part of
VFW's National Day of Service.
Local Post 2O One in Waterbury
in 1946 in Naugatuck cohosted an
event to thank police, fire cre,
EMS, nurses and teachers.
The public was also invited to
spend time and show appreciation
for their first responders.
AVFW Day of Service events are happening
around the world this month to highlight
the important role veterans plas
community leaders and volunteer.
A lot of people think that we're just
here to enjoy a time at the bar.
And talk about war stories and stuff,
but we we reach out to the commy
and do as much as we can to
provide services for the commun.
Post 201 is accepting donations of non
perishable food items all this month.
Donations can be dropped off at their
building on Baldwin St. in Waterbury.
The state comes during National
Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.
As to Connecticut,
fallen firefighters are honoredt
the National Service and Maryla.
Firefighter Matias Words of the
North Haven Fire Department,
who died while responding to a
fire back in December of 2022,
and Fire Chief William Halsted of the
Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue,
who died after a fire back in July of 2022,
will both be honored.
The memorial service will take
place tomorrow morning at 10:00
AM in Emmetsburg, Maryland.