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Fire Reports | July 22-28, 2026

Published: Aug 03, 2026 8:00 am

Wednesday, July 22: 8:40 am, motor vehicle accident (MVA), 55 Dodgingtown Road, Dodgingtown, Hook & Ladder, and Botsford responded; 9:22 am, fire alarm, 137 Head of Meadow Road, Hawleyville and Hook & Ladder responded; 10:45 am, office call, 15 Berkshire Road, Hawleyville responded; 11:18 am, tree/wires down, Sugar Street and Rock Ridge Road, Dodgingtown, Hook & Ladder, and Botsford responded; 11:51 am, fire alarm, 45 Hoseye Coach Road, Botsford and Sandy Hook responded; 3:09 pm, gas leak, 5 Serene Way, Botsford and Dodgingtown responded; 5:04 pm, MVA, 29 Main Street, Hook & Ladder responded; 8:51 pm, medical assist, Watkins Drive, Sandy Hook responded.

Thursday, July 23: 6:17 am, fire alarm, 16 Silver City Road, Hook & Ladder and Hawleyville responded; 4:47 pm, service call, 19 New Street, Hook & Ladder responded.

Friday, July 24: 12:19 pm, tree/wires down, 172 Boggs Hill Road, Dodgingtown responded.

Saturday, July 25: 11:33 am, vehicle fire, I-84 East Exits 11 & 13, Hook & Ladder and Sandy Hook responded; 12:10 pm, vehicle fire, I-84 East Exits 8 & 9, Hawleyville responded; 12:56 pm, vehicle fire, 7 Fieldstone Drive, Dodgingtown, Hook & Ladder, and Botsford responded; 1:29 pm, gas leak, 32 Pond Brook Road, Hawleyville responded; 1:29 pm, medical assist, Far View Road, Hawleyville and Sandy Hook responded; 1:50 pm, gas leak, 32 Pond Brook Road, Hawleyville responded; 2:31 pm, smoke/odor investigation, 326 Great Quarter Road, Sandy Hook responded.

Sunday, July 26: 11:48 am, vehicle fire, I-84 East Exits 11 & 13, Sandy Hook responded; 9:41 pm, gas leak, 44 Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook, Botsford, and Hook & Ladder responded.

Monday, July 27: 1:24 am, medical assist, I-84 West Exit 11 Off-Ramp, Sandy Hook responded; 5:54 am, medical assist, Julia Court, Sandy Hook responded; 8:06 am, fire alarm, 14 High Bridge Road, Botsford and Sandy Hook responded; 10:54 am, vehicle fire, 62 Church Hill Road, Hook & Ladder and Sandy Hook responded; 12:22 pm, fire alarm, 9 Queen Street, Hook & Ladder and Sandy Hook responded; 7:31 pm, service call, 107 High Rock Road, Botsford responded.

Tuesday, July 28: 12:20 am, fire alarm, 228 South Main Street, Botsford, Hook & Ladder, and Sandy Hook responded; 9:02 am, fire alarm, 9 Covered Bridge Road, Hawleyville and Hook & Ladder responded; 3:31 pm, service call, 461 South Main Street, Sandy Hook responded.

Newtown Police officers, Newtown Hook & Ladder Co #1, and Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue responded to the driveway of Blue Colony Diner, 66 Church Hill Road, around 10:30 am Monday, July 27, for a possible crash and resulting vehicle fire. Upon arrival, however, first responders found a 2023 Harley-Davidson FLTRK fully engulfed in flames. There was no crash, and the unidentified operator of the motorcycle was able to dismount and move away from the vehicle without injury. The fire closed Church Hill Road between the western ramps of I-84 Exit 10 and the Edmond-Commerce Roads intersection while first responders were on the scene. —Bee Photos, Hicks

A Hook & Ladder firefighter continues soaking a 2023 Harley-Davidson motorcycle Monday morning after the bulk of the fire was knocked down.

FONS Summer Soiree Reservations Deadline Approaching

Collaborative Semiquincentennial Exhibitions Extended At Newtown Municipal Center

73rd Bridgewater Country Fair To Carry Semiquincentennial Theme

SCAN Presenting Open Studio Painters Exhibition; Reception Next Weekend

It's a bit ironic. On July 31, 2025, Bruce Walczak wrote that "evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government." He also promised to respond to constituent inquiries and to "close the loop," even when there wasn't an immediate answer. Two weeks of silence in response to a legitimate question seems difficult to reconcile with that pledge. The standard wasn't set by his critics—it was set by Bruce himself. Just another politician ... say whatever is necessary to get the job. Original letter: https://www.newtownbee.com/07312025/a-commitment-to-responsiveness/

First Selectman Addresses Storm Response

CT primaries are closed to voters not registered with the party's designation. Dems can't vote in Rep. primaries and, vice versa. Unaffiliated and Independent voters cannot vote in them. Keep primaries closed!

Time to Change the Guard

Bruce, welcome to the conversation. Your recent statement after the storm — admitting that you should have communicated “faster, more completely, and more personally” — was fine as far as it went. But this is not just about one storm. It is about a pattern. You ran on openness, responsiveness, and transparency, even saying that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government.” The problem is that Newtown residents have been dealing with exactly that silence from you since you were elected. Newtown’s Emergency Management page says the town, together with the Office of the First Selectman, provides “critical public information and warning” during emergencies. The town also rolled out CodeRED cellphone registration on March 24, 2022 so residents could receive emergency information directly. So where were you when police were searching for missing 23-year-old Kateri Doty in January? Where were you during the brush fires near the Newtown town line in April? Where were you on April 22, when state police and Newtown police were searching for two people who fled an I-84 crash and a canine search moved into the Church Hill Road area? Residents should not be hearing about a missing person, wildfire conditions, or police tracking dogs moving through backyards from Facebook, neighbors, or kids in town. They should be hearing from their town government. This is not really about whether you personally press the CodeRED button. Or how many task forces you have created. It is about leadership. You are the First Selectman. You are responsible for making sure the town communicates clearly, quickly, and visibly when public safety is involved. So yes, it is nice that you have finally acknowledged the problem. But the public did not need this storm to figure it out. We have been saying it for a long time. Bruce, you were missing when the town needed to hear from you. The question now is whether this storm finally woke you up, or whether this is just another late apology followed by more silence.

The topic may be the same but the narratives every other week differ and I appreciate the installments. Rebuttals on factual content rather than focusing on form would improve the discourse.

Elections Have Consequences XXVI

Who would think that we would start losing count? Maybe not so much a typo as a copy-and-paste error, easy to understand after this much repetition.

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Fire Reports | July 22-28, 2026

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