Fire destroys building and business

Milford (WTNH) -  

A fire ripped through and demolished Milford Fabricating Company on Erna Avenue Tuesday morning forcing dozens of workers outside. Crews have been on scene all day, dousing hot spots and sifting through debris.

Fire crews are still on the scene though it's been out for a few hours. The factory is just a burned-out shell now. There are 95 people that work there and about 80 or so were in the building when the fire started. It is believed that the fire was started by a machine at the back of the building.

The good news: everyone got out safely.

From an aerial perspective, the extensive damage that Milford Fabricating Company has sustained can be seen. The roof is caved in and everything underneath, completely charred. It's no wonder with a scene like this.

"When units arrived, we had heavy smoke pushing out from the building," said Captain Christopher Zak of the Milford Fire Department. "It quickly went to a second alarm, that subsequently went to a third and fourth alarm."

The company manufactures sheet metal parts for places like Sikorsky and Pitney Bowes which means heavy machinery, with toxic components, were burning.

"So inside, you had a lot of chemicals, you had a lot of flammable gases, propane tanks, acetylene tanks, nitrogen was also in there," said Zak.

There were several small explosions when firefighters arrived on the scene. They quickly took a defensive position, fighting it from the outside but they were held back, by a lack of water.

"We had a very serious situation, this is an older section of Milford, we have six-inch water mains," said Zak.

They could only pump out 500 to 800 gallons a minute. And, for a fire this size, they needed 1,000 to 2,000 gallons a minute. So, the fire department had to go quite a distance to tap into a different water system. They shut down Route 1 for hours, blocking businesses along the busy route while gawkers gathered to see the spectacle.

"I saw the smoke, couldn't get through Route 1, so I just circled around and parked and walked over," said Carl Passafiume of West Haven.

There had been huge plumes of smoke that could be seen from I-95. And, there was some concern about if the smoke was toxic, so a couple houses near the fire were evacuated.

News Channel 8 has been told that they are monitoring the air quality. But, because of the wind today, it should be okay.