‘Trick’ Gone Awry Causes

Sandy Hook House Fire

By Andrew Gorosko

An 11-year-old boy, who said he was doing tricks with fire, accidentally ignited the upper level of a four-bedroom Colonial house at 12 Elana Lane in Sandy Hook at about 4:40 pm on Wednesday, creating a house fire during frigid conditions, which caused an estimated $45,000 in property damage.

There were no injuries in the blaze, which drew four local fire companies and several dozen firefighters to the normally quiet dead end street, which extends off Philo Curtis Road near Interstate 84.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company Chief Bill Halstead, who was the incident commander at the fire, said Thursday that the boy was playing in an upstairs bathroom with a pressurized perfume container and a cigarette lighter. The boy, whom Chief Halstead did not identify due to his age, was using the lighter to ignite the pressurized spray from the perfume container, creating a blowtorch effect.

Apparently impressed with the trick, the boy then went downstairs to tell his uncle, Robert Adams, about it, Chief Halstead said. When the boy and his uncle, who were the only ones home at the time, then went upstairs, they discovered that the contents of a bathroom closet had ignited from the trick, Chief Halstead said. They then swiftly left the house without injury and summoned help.

Chief Halstead said that no criminal charges will be filed in the case because the house fire apparently occurred accidentally, not intentionally.

“[The boy] was experimenting and thought he found something neat,” Chief Halstead said of the boy’s initial view of his trick.

The home, which is insured for damage, is owned by Eve McCarthy, who lives there with her two sons, ages 11 and 10, and her brother, Mr Adams, who is the boys’ uncle, Chief Halstead said.

The fire response filled the neighborhood with emergency vehicles as firefighters hustled about in putting out the blaze and dealing with its aftermath. Neighbors stood by, huddling in the cold, watching as firefighters worked at the house, which was bathed in brilliant emergency lighting.

Sandy Hook, Newtown Hook and Ladder, Hawleyville, and Botsford firefighters went to the scene.

Chief Halstead said the bathroom where the fire began is gutted. The four upper-level bedrooms received heat and smoke damage. The lower level received relatively less damage, he said. Firefighters used about 500 gallons of water in putting out the blaze to minimize water damage, he said.

Heavy smoke was pouring out of the house when the fire companies arrived, the chief said. The fire was under control in about ten minutes, he said.

The house is not habitable and the family is staying elsewhere, the chief said. The house must be cleaned and repaired before it can be reoccupied, he said.