First Selectman Dionna Carlson

More Than 5,000 New Canaan Customers Lose Power After Eversource Substation Issue

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. More than 5,000 in New Canaan lost power Wednesday around midday after a problem at one of Eversource utility’s substations caused a town-wide blackout, officials say. In a 1 p.m. update, Emergency Management Director Russ Kimes said Eversource reported that problems at the utility company’s substation caused the outage, affecting 5,302 customers—about 61% of households in town. “Eversource reports that crews are already on site working to fix the issue,” Kimes said. “They have not provided an estimated time for restoration.”

News

Town Opens Cooling Centers, Urges Precautions During Extreme Heat Wave

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. New Canaan officials are urging residents to take precautions as dangerously high temperatures are expected to continue through Independence Day weekend. The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Heat Watch for New Canaan from Wednesday at noon through Saturday evening, prompting the town to activate cooling centers and implement additional safety measures. 

Russ Kimes III, the town’s director of emergency management, said the town’s primary concern is ensuring residents understand the dangers of prolonged heat exposure. “Of course our greatest concern is ensuring that people take extreme heat seriously,” Kimes said. “People should stay well hydrated, stay out of the sun and adjust working hours if possible, be observant of the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses, and never ever leave a child or pet in a car unattended—even for a moment.”

Animal 411

Report: ‘Mouse Infestation’ at Animal Shelter; No Fire Alarms, Smoke Detectors or Security Cameras at Facility

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There are no fire alarms or smoke detectors in the New Canaan Animal Shelter, which has a mice infestation, documents show. There also are no security cameras at the Animal Shelter, which was shuttered last month following a fire whose cause hasn’t been determined, according to a fire investigator’s report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

Located in a former incinerator building at the Lakeview Avenue Transfer Station, a complex informally known as “the dump,” the Animal Shelter has been offline since a fire that was discovered at about 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 20. There were no animals in the building at the time and no one was injured. The shelter itself has had several ongoing problems, according to information contained in an incident report filed by Assistant Chief Russ Kimes, who was tapped by the Fire Department to conduct an investigation. 

Used primarily to house dumped, lost or abused dogs and cats, the shelter “does not have a monitored fire alarm system, and also does not have any local smoke detectors,” Kimes said in the report.

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New Canaan EMS 50th Anniversary Spotlight: Russ Kimes Sr.

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[Editor’s Note: New Canaan EMS celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To mark the milestone, the New Canaanite is publishing profiles of members each month in 2025. This is the first in the series, written by Wendy Fog, herself a longtime EMT with the organization.]
In 1975, Russell Kimes Sr., became a founding member, driving force and leader in the creation of the New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps. In addition to his duties as a prominent local attorney, a Probate Court judge and a Town Council member, he rode the ambulance for 34 years. He is still actively involved in what is now called New Canaan Emergency Medical Services or ‘NCEMS.’

Board of Selectmen

Moynihan Cites ‘Surrounding Towns’ in Creating New Full-Time Job

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The Board of Selectmen last week voted in favor of making New Canaan’s emergency management director role—an unpaid, volunteer role just two years ago—a full-time, paid job. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during the Board’s regular meeting May 17 that “many surrounding towns are beginning to hire full-time emergency management directors.”

“The preparedness for events, that only requires being there when the event occurs,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “But also there’s a lot of preparation and a lot of planning and a lot of drilling that’s required. So the past few months I’ve been thinking that we really ought to look at what our surrounding towns are doing and take the opportunity to create a full-time position.”

The salary range for the job hasn’t been finalized yet, according to New Canaan Human Resources Director Cheryl Pickering-Jones. It wasn’t clear which “surrounding towns” Moynihan referred to—neither of New Canaan’s similarly sized neighbors, Darien and Wilton, have a full-time emergency management director, officials say.