School St. Fire (Shelton, CT) 3/11/07

SHELTON, CT – At approximately 8:15pm on March 11, the Shelton Fire Department was dispatched to a barn fire located on School Street in the City’s White Hills section. The barn, which housed farming equipment, two pickup trucks, and a backhoe was already well off upon arrival of the first in units. The barn that was built in the 1800s was also used as storage for the family’s lightning rod business known as Woods Lightning Protection Company. Three cows were spared from the blaze when a neighbor closed off a gate keeping the cows at a safe distance. According to Fire Marshal James Tortora, the fire apparently started in the basement and was electrical in nature. Through the efforts of the firefighters on scene, the attached exposure was saved from the fire. As a side note, the Shelton Fire Department ran city-wide live burn exercises in an acquired farmhouse earlier this day.