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Firefighters Put Out Blaze at Old Stamford Road Home Late Friday; No Injuries

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New Canaan firefighters late Friday responded to a blaze in the attic of a 2005-built home on Old Stamford Road, officials say. No one was home or injured during the incident at 27 Old Stamford Road, according to a press release issued by Fire Chief William Perritt. An automatic fire alarm alerted NCFD at about 7:53 p.m. on Aug. 7, while the home’s occupants were out to dinner, the press release said. Led by Lt. VJ Belletto, firefighters arrived on scene two minutes after dispatch “and reported heavy fire from the attic of a 2 ½ story private dwelling.”

A second alarm brought fire companies from Norwalk, Stamford and Wilton to the scene while Darien and Noroton Heights covered NCFD and local firefighters “forced the front door, located the attic access, and advanced a hose line to the attic,” Perritt said in the release. 

“Within six minutes of arrival, members had advanced a hose line into the attic via the interior stairs extinguishing the fire and completing a search of the structure,” it said. 

Firefighters “performed overhaul to ensure there was no fire extension and also performed extensive salvage operations to protect the residents’ possessions on the lower floors,” Perritt said.

Steve Benko Pool

Waveny Pool Adds Safety Measures Following Vehicle Crash

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club

New safety measures have been put in place at Waveny Pool following the vehicle crash that sent a car through the facility’s fence earlier this summer, officials say. The most significant change is the installation of large rocks around areas where vehicles could potentially access the pool grounds, according to New Canaan Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. The Highway Department placed the rocks before the pool reopened after officials realized a car had been able to pass through a narrow gap between two trees during the crash, he said. “We ‘hardened’ the pool, so to speak,” Howe said. “We filled in any gaps because the car went between two trees.

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New Canaan Police See Sharp Rise in Stolen Vehicles, Thefts from Cars

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. Stolen vehicles in New Canaan are running at nearly twice last year’s pace so far in 2026, Police Chief John DiFederico told members of the Police Commission at their July 8 meeting, citing a pattern that has persisted despite repeated warnings from the department. Year-to-date through June 30, 15 vehicles have been stolen in town, compared to eight over the same period in 2025, according to the department’s monthly statistics. Larcenies from motor vehicles have risen even more sharply over the same stretch, jumping from three year-to-date in 2025 to 15 so far this year. DiFederico said the cause is largely the same as it has been.

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Local Leaders Create ‘Domestic Violence Survivor Support Fund’ for New Canaan Residents

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Nonprofit, municipal, medical and public safety leaders in New Canaan last week announced the creation of a new fund designed to help those impacted by domestic violence—long described as the town’s number-one violent crime. Created by the New Canaan Abuse Prevention Partnership in collaboration with the New Canaan Community Foundation, among other local agencies, the “Domestic Violence Survivor Support Fund” will confidentially provide access safe housing, meet basic needs and cover emergency expenses—including childcare—for survivors. “The thing that we all want to do is break the cycle of violence,” Dede Bartlett, founder of the New Canaan Abuse Prevention Partnership, said Friday during a presentation on the new fund to local leaders held at Town Hall. “We don’t want her kids to become the perpetrators in the future. I look upon this as a very practical investment in helping people move forward so that you do not have to have this conversation 10 years from now.”

Administered by NCCF, the fund “will provide a direct, easy, practical way for people like us, and groups, and organizations to directly support our citizens who are in crisis,” Bartlett said.

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Warrant: Man, 42, Charged with Assault, Strangulation, Impersonating Police Officer

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. A 42-year-old Syosset, N.Y., man is facing multiple felony charges after New Canaan Police allege he assaulted a woman during a domestic violence incident, strangled her until she lost consciousness and later impersonated both the woman’s brother and a retired New York Police Department lieutenant in phone calls to the NCPD. According to the affidavit of NCPD Officer Matthew Blank, which forms the major part of an arrest warrant application obtained by NewCanaanite.com, the man is charged with second-degree assault, second-degree strangulation or suffocation, disorderly conduct, criminal impersonation and impersonating a police officer. The investigation began June 22, when a woman arrived at New Canaan Police headquarters to report that the man had assaulted her the previous day at her parents’ home, where the couple had been living. Police learned there was an active protective order involving the two individuals.