News

New Canaan Fire Marshal on ‘Burning Permits’

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Recent issues regarding open burning and burning permits have raised questions regarding this practice in New Canaan. 

Open burning regulations for Connecticut are administrated by the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Air Quality Division with permits issued by the local Fire Department. Following is a list of tips to help keep us all safe when burning:

Burning permits are required when burning.  Permits are issued by the Fire Department at 60 Main Street only on the day you wish to burn. A phone call to the Fire Department on the morning of the day you wish to burn might save you a trip if a burning permit would not be issued for that day. 203-594-3140
Only brush and tree branches, up to three inches in diameter may be burned.  No leaves, trash or construction/demolition materials may be burned. Burning will not be permitted when the burn danger is “high” or “extreme” and/or high wind days.  Burning also will not be permitted when the air quality index is high according to DEEP.

Fire Commission

After Brooks Road Fire, Officials Urge New Canaan Homeowners To Safely Clear Out Ash Pits 

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Officials are urging New Canaan homeowners to ensure the ash pits below their fireplaces are emptied regularly and safely—as well as installed properly—following a house fire last week on Brooks Road that was ignited due to improper design. Fire officials responded on the afternoon of March 2 to a two-alarm fire at a Brooks Road home. It had been ignited in a crawl space below a hearth extension for the fireplace in the living room, according to Fire Marshal Paul Payne. “What had happened, the fireplace had an ash dump in the fire box and the ashes dumped down below the chimney into the foundation area, which was exterior to the house,” Payne told members of the Fire Commission during their regular meeting Tuesday night. “Well, the smoke and the fire was in the crawl space and when I got in there with the guys, they were just finishing up,” he said during the meeting, held via videoconference.

News

New Canaan Fire Marshal: Exit Drills In The Home or ‘E.D.I.T.H.’

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Home fires can become a disaster if you and your family are not familiar with how to escape during an emergency. 

To design a fire escape plan, sketch the floor plan of your home, indicate on the plan doors and windows from which you can escape from each room. Designate a meeting place outside of the home where family members should meet once they have safely escaped. Practice your fire escape plan, regular exit drills in the home will allow you to test the plan and make adjustments as needed. Make sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Smoke detectors should be installed in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level.

News

Fire Marshal Report: Updates on Canaan Parish, Country Club

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Though the town has issued a permit for interior alterations for a new restaurant in the former Thali space at 87 Main St., officials say, the work still appears to be on hold. Plans for a new Japanese restaurant, Saiko, had come into the town just prior to the onset of COVID-19 virus. Demolition on the interior space had started but stalled, officials reported during the most recent meeting of the Fire Commission. The town also has issued a temporary Certificate of Occupancy for the Merrill Lynch offices at 2 Pine St., Fire Marshal Paul Payne reported at the Commission’s regular meeting, held Jan. 12 via videoconference.

News

Fire Officials Pursue ‘Dry Hydrant’ Installation in Northwestern New Canaan

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Town officials say they’re working on a plan to install a pipe system that will allow firefighters to more readily withdraw water from a pond located near the intersection of Dan’s Highway and West Road. Fire Marshal Paul Payne said during the Fire Commission’s Jan. 12 meeting that he and Chief Jack Hennessey are working with a contractor regarding the possible installation of a dry hydrant in Lockwood Pond. Commission Chair Jack Horner asked during the meeting whether that was the pond that New Canaan firefighters drafted from in fighting a structure fire in November 2019. 

Payne said yes. “I had heard we had an easement on one of the properties up there and so I researched the deeds and indeed we do have an easement for a dry hydrant on one of the properties up there,” Payne said during the meeting, held via videoconference.