New Canaan firefighters on Wednesday afternoon put out a fully involved car fire on the Merritt Parkway.
Merritt Parkway southbound just before the railroad bridge on March 19, 2025. Photo courtesy of NCFD
No one was injured in the motor vehicle fire on the southbound Exit 36/Old Stamford Road off-ramp, reported to the New Canaan Fire Department at 2:30 p.m., according to a press release issued by Fire Chief Albe Bassett.
“The driver was able to get out of the car unharmed,” Bassett said in the press release. “Connecticut State Police reported that the vehicle fire also started a brush fire on the Merritt Parkway southbound. The brush fire extended up the embankment into the woods behind the leaf compost site on Lapham Road.”
New Canaan tanker eight operating southbound Merritt Parkway on March 19, 2025. Photo courtesy of NCFD
New Canaan Firefighters used multiple hose lines from the Merritt and compost site to extinguish about one acre of brush, the chief said.
Assistance was provided by firefighters from the Noroton Heights, Darien and Pound Ridge Fire Departments, Bassett said, while Wilton and Westport covered the town.
Firefighters were on scene for about four hours.
New Canaan firefighters controlling a brush fire on March 19, 2025. Credit: Michael Dinan
“Do not discard any smoking materials from a car window or into any organic material around your home,” Bassett said in the press release. “Obey open burning regulations, this includes camp fires and outside fireplaces.”