WOODBURY CT – Nearly 50 firefighters from the Woodbury Volunteer Fire Dept and four neighboring Connecticut towns contained a fire that destroyed a home in the early hours of New Year’s Day at 329 Washington Rd., Route 47, Woodbury. “The team effort putting the wet on the red was amazing,” says Chief Janet B. Morgan. “The response went like clockwork, and there were no injuries.”

Most of the house was gutted but homeowner Kevin McSwiggan, who works as an excavator, and two dogs escaped injury. His wife and two children were away at the time. The fire started around 1:40am and was declared clear just before 6:00am as dawn broke. The south wing of the structure and a breezeway area were destroyed, with extensive smoke damage to the original part of the home built in 1888. The cause remained undetermined and was still under assessment by the weekend, Chief Morgan said. Morgan is also the town’s fire marshall.

Woodbury’s two companies had five fire engines at the scene. Roxbury, Southbury, and Watertown supplied additional tank trucks with crews, while Bethlehem sent a fire engine and firefighters to protect Woodbury while Woodbury’s own firefighters and vehicles were deployed. Woodbury firefighters also organized a shuttle run for the tank trucks to refill with water at the nearest hydrant a more than a mile away. “We’re really grateful to our mutual aid departments,” Chief Morgan added. “Everybody cooperated and stayed right through.”

contact info: Chief Janet Morgan at the Fire Department (non-emergency) number 203 263 3100. PIO Jonathan Kapstein (home) 203 586 1423 email WVFDCT.PIO@gmail.com cc Jon.Kapstein@gmail.com . Photo credit if needed: contributed or WVFD photo