Firefighters douse blaze at Taco Bell in Ansonia

 

Ansonia and Derby firefighters battle fire Monday at Taco Bell in Ansonia. Patricia Villers/Register

By Patricia Villers
Register Staff
ANSONIA — City and Derby firefighters doused a late-afternoon blaze Monday at Taco Bell, 205 Division St.
Six employees and five or six customers were in the eatery at the time, but no injuries were reported.
Manager Wayne Wyman said an off-duty firefighter saw smoke by the front door and alerted the staff. He said the fire started near a utility area in the rear of the building.
The call came in at 5:07 p.m., authorities said. Shortly before 6, firefighters were working on a hole in the roof, there were no flames and the smoke was gone.
Ansonia Fire Chief Ron Burgess said when firefighters arrived on scene “there was heavy smoke coming from the back” of the restaurant. He said everyone in the building had already evacuated.
It appeared the fire started “inside the building in the back service entrance,” Burgess said. He said Fire Marshal Ralph Tingley will conduct an investigation to determine the cause.
A Naugatuck Valley Health District official was on scene, Burgess said, “to make sure the food end of it is disposed of” properly.
He said about 50 firefighters from Ansonia and Derby responded to the call.Seymour firefighters were covering at Ansonia’s Fountain Hose Company firehouse, Burgess said.
 Responding to the alarm were the city’s Webster Hose Hook and Ladder Company 3, and Eagle Hose Hook and Ladder Company 6; Storm Engine Company and Hotchkiss Hose Company, both from Derby; and Ansonia Rescue Medical Services.