RICHARD WEIZEL
Article Last Updated: 04/27/2008 10:34:46 PM EDT
BRIDGEPORT — Just three months after a major fire gutted a section of the historic and sprawling former Remington Arms complex, a Sunday blaze ripped through the upper stories of another long vacant brick building at the Helen Street site.
Flames poured out third-story windows and spread to the fourth floor of the building when 30 firefighters from five engine companies and two ladder companies arrived to fight the fire shortly after 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Assistant Fire Chief Dominick Carfi said.
Carfi said the fire, which he termed "suspicious," took about 45 minutes to bring under control and is under investigation by the Bridgeport Fire Department's Arson Squad.
There were no injuries, Carfi said.
He said the building, already "dilapidated" prior to the blaze, sustained moderate to extensive fire damage.
"There have been numerous fires at the complex in recent years and there's no way to know if there is any connection between this latest one and any of the others," Carfi said. "The investigation into the January fire has still not been completed."
Carfi said, however, that because there is no power or electricity in the buildings "the chances of it being arson are very likely."
The Remgrit Corp., whose principal owner is Fairfield developer Sal DiNardo, owns the complex.
City officials estimate at least $8.6 million in back taxes is owed overall on the former Remington Arms property.
The 90-year-old former Remington Arms buildings are part of a 28-acre factory complex that produced bullets and other armaments until the 1980s. It was a major employer in the region.