Explosion, fire destroys Hocon gas building in Danbury

[Guest]

Danbury (WTNH) _ Firefighters are on the scene of an explosion and fire at the Hocon Industrial Gas Company building.

Debris from the explosion spread out 75 feet or ore from the building at 86 Payne Road, near the Danbury/Bethel town line.

"Our concern initially was what kind of gases do they have here, and if we had explosions of tanks and compromised cylinders, what were the potential problems we could incur with those gasses," Asst. Chief Paul Omasta, Danbury Fire Department, said.

"Luckily, most of it was flammable in nature and would have gone up with the fire."

There are no reports of injuries.

The explosion happened just before midnight. The Danbury News-Times reports the early morning blast destroyed what is believed to be company offices and a showroom.

There was no immediate word on a cause, but it appears there was a gas leak of some kind at the business.

Firefighters continue to put out hot spots this morning and will eventually take down the rest of the building.

Bethel's school superintendent tells News Channel 8 there will be some delays for school children who get on the bus at the Payne Road location.

Note: according to News 12 this morning 1 ff was injured however they did not have the status of the injury.

Edited October 4, 2007 by nutty1

[CHIEFPHIL 90]

Both the City of Danbury and the Town of Bethl dispatched to this incident at the same time. Payne Road is a major n/s road which forms the town line near I-84 exit 8. Most if not all the residental properties are in Bethel,so the bulk of the 911 calls went to Bethel 911.

There was a lot of work going on throughout the night by the various fire companies assigned to this incident from both municipalities . All involved did a tremendous job.

This incident utilized both a tanker shuttle and LDH relay of over 3100'.

Danbury E23,24 and Truck 1 were the primary suppresion units. E21 and 22 provided thier crews

While Bethel E6, Stony Hill E3 and 2 operated in the LDH relay

Bethel Tanker 1 Brookfield Tanker 1 and Germantown E10 and Tanker 10 provided the tanker shuttle.

Numerous other EMS units, medics, CTDEP as well as Bethel and Danbury PD operated at this scene.

Hawleyville E331 responded to cover the Stony Hill station in Bethel.

Edited October 4, 2007 by CHIEFPHIL

[minus 0]

Excellent job by all good to see the vollies being mentioned on the news and danbury putting everyone to work equally.