Fire completely destroyed building that housed McNally's Pub, and Reliant Air. Danbury Airport, 09.13.07. Photo by ctblogger
I found out about the fire at Danbury Airport around 11:20 and ran down to the scene. FOX-61, NEWS-12, WVIT and WTNH were on the scene as well the print media including the News-Times, which got a jump on everyone since they have a police-fire scanner.
I'm rather tired right now because I didn't leave until well after 1:00 A.M. and I have a great deal of video from the fire to process. I'll update this site with images and video from the fire soon.
The day after Photo by ctblogger
UPDATE: Wow, what a night. I thought the library fire was bad but this is by far on the ugliest fires I've ever seen in Danbury.
First off, HATS OFF to the Danbury Fire Department. I have no idea how those guys but that fire out so fast (with all those different types of fuels and chemicals) but they did it and it probably saved lives. Talk about a wild first night for the new firehouse...
Hats off to all the residents of Danbury who catch video and photos of the fire. I've seen some amazing photos and video from people who were on the scene (McNally's had a decent crowd that night and people caught pictures on their cell phones). Unfortunately, I found out about the blaze late in the evening and by the time I arrived on the scene, most of the fire was extinguished (thank goodness). The silver lining in arriving late was that I was able to get some close-up shots of the building and video tape the firefighters in action.
Also a round of thanks goes out to those guys in uniform who came up to me and say "hey, you're that guy with the blog." I really appreciated that they didn't give me any problems and pointed to the best place to film the footage while staying out of their way. Big thumbs up goes the guys who took care of the on-lookers who were dangerously darting in the street. I owe you round the next time I see ya.
NOTE: The following video is formatted high-resolution and surround sound stereo. Although you can watch it on this webpage, it's really designed for full screen. For the full experience, just click the rectangle on the lower part of the video window and enjoy the show.
You can watch my photo slide show of the scene by clicking here. The News-Times did an excellent job with their coverage of the blaze. Obviously, there is no information regarding the origin of the blaze because of all the fuels and stuff involved but the state examiners are on the scene and I'm sure we'll learn more about what happened in the coming days.
The newspaper also did a smart thing collecting footage from readers and I encourage you to take a look at their user-submitted photos and videos.
UPDATE 7:00 p.m.: It seems like the Danbury News-Times photographer Carol Kaliff caught the photo of the night (if not the year). Her photo from the fire is on the AP wire and was picked up by the Hartford Courant in their article on the blaze. I'm sure the photo will be used elsewhere so I'll keep an eye out and see who else picks it up.
04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school
06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
Fire completely destroyed building that housed McNally's Pub, and Reliant Air.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
