Bridgeport fire chief tells of 'Safe Asleep' program

AARON LEO aleo@ctpost.com
Article Last Updated: 02/06/2008 11:53:05 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT — The Ocean Terrace fire station — closed suddenly late last year for emergency repairs just before an intense, fatal fire hit a nearby home — could re-open in six weeks, Fire Chief Brian Rooney told about 20 residents of the Black Rock neighborhood Wednesday night.

But the chances for survival in any fire increase with smoke alarms and planning, Rooney said, before pitching the department's "Safe Asleep" program that has led to the installation of more than 13,000 smoke alarms with 10-year-life lithium batteries. AmeriCorps volunteers do the installations.

Rooney spoke to the Black Rock Homeowners Association in the Black Rock Arts Center on Fairfield Avenue, at the group's request.

John Lee, the group's treasurer, said the association had been planning to invite Rooney to speak two months before the closure or the fire, regarding the Fire Department's role in preserving the quality of life.

"I respect the fact that you're raising" the issue of the firehouse closure, Lee said.

Arthur C. Harris, project manager for the city's Public Facilities Department, explained the repairs.

The fire station was built in 1970 on fill, which settled about a foot and seriously damaged the plumbing of the building located in the city's West End, a neighbor of Black Rock.

The new concrete floor will have stronger steel beams to accommodate heavier firetrucks. Fill will be replaced underneath the floor to temporarily support the concrete until it hardens, he added.

Then the beams will hold up the floor, Harris said.

"This new floor is being designed to hold six [of the department's] heaviest trucks," he said.

The station is home to Engine 7 and Ladder 11, and is the closest to the West End and Black Rock. From there, firefighters can respond in four minutes or less, the department's stated goal.

Engine 7 firefighters are staying in a trailer on the station site and their engine is being stored in a bay in the firehouse.

"Do we know if this settlement will occur again?" asked Patty Scott. "I was wondering if this was going to become a neighborhood problem."

"It's isolated," Rooney said.

Donna Curran, a former city councilwoman, asked if a public hearing was planned regarding the closure. But she didn't fault the chief for the turn of events that ended in the Dec. 7 fire where an infant and his parents died from smoke inhalation.

Rooney encouraged the residents to formulate an escape plan and maintain their smoke detectors to avoid any tragedy.

He said it was not clear if the dead family's home had smoke alarms because the fire was so intense.

It was so destructive the cause may never be known, he has said.

But speculating on the cause of any fire is bad because "there's liability issues," Rooney said.

Still, heating elements commonly cause fires, he said.

Rooney encouraged the residents to call 911 in any emergency, from difficulty breathing or chest pain to oven fires.

Jean Layton, of Beachview Avenue, said she called 911 when her water heater burst at 3 a.m. in early December 2005.

Ocean Terrace firefighters mopped up the water for her with large brooms.

"They came in two minutes," she said.

To receive free smoke detectors under the "Safe Asleep" program, call 335-8835.