UPDATED: Squirrel May Have Started Fire at Stratford Wood Cabinet Shop

Update at 3:45 p.m. Oct. 22:

Conway said the cabinet shop fire caused an estimated $60,000 in damage.

The investigation into the cause of that fire was interrupted by another fire reported at 12:47 p.m. Saturday at 95 Elmhurst Ave., which is off Main Street north of Paradise Green.

Conway said a fire in a colonial house caused an estimated $30,000 to the second floor and the attic. No cause has yet been determined.

Members of the family were home when the blaze broke out and called it in, Conway said. He added he did not hear any smoke detectors sounding from inside the house.

“That’s usually the case. It’s the houses without smoke detectors where we have the fires,” Conway observed. He explained that the first, minimal sign of smoke triggers smoke detectors, allowing firefighters to arrive before the fire can cause much damage.

The original article follows:

A squirrel that shorted out an electrical line may have caused the fire Saturday morning that damaged a woodworking shop on the corner of Soundview Avenue and Seymour Street.

Artur Raczkowski, owner of A-Design, a shop that builds custom cabinets, said the fire broke out around 9:22 a.m. in the area of a compressor used to provide compressed air to run machine tools at the business.

A-Design employs about 10 workers, but only five were working at the time of the fire, Raczkowski said.

Assistant Fire Chief John Conway said the call came in to Stratford Fire Department headquarters while firefighters were entertaining children during the department’s annual open house. At least four pumpers and an aerial ladder and EMS personnel responded to the scene.

A firefighter was taken to an area hospital for treatment of a knee injury, which EMS personnel said was minor.

Conway confirmed that the fire started near the compressor and that the remains of a squirrel were found where the electrical service enters the building. He said as of noon today the Fire Marshal had not determined if the squirrel was the cause of the blaze.

But the business owners were convinced it was. They said the squirrel knocked out one of three electrical service lines, which caused the compressor to overheat.

Most of the fire damage was confined to one side of the building, including the office where the business records are kept. The owners were concerned about damage to the compressor, an expensive piece of equipment. Raczkowski said the business is insured.

Conway noted that the business is full of wood. He said it was fortunate that the building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check until firefighters arrived.

"If this really got going it would be a hard one to put out," he said.