Community Rallies for Families Displaced by Fire
Hamden – Monday evening, a fire engulfed the 22 unit apartment building at 42 Warner Street. The cause of this devastating fire is under investigation by the Hamden Fire Department with assistance from the State Police. Thankfully, no serious injuries were reported, however 60 residents are without homes and their personal belongings were destroyed.
When an event of this magnitude occurs, it’s ‘all hands on deck’. I am grateful for the immediate response from our Town, and the assistance we received from our surrounding towns and community partners.
Hamden Fire Department received assistance from New Haven and North Haven with fire suppression apparatuses, and Wallingford provided additional manpower. Cheshire and Bethany stood watch over Hamden’s North end and American Medical Response covered our medical calls.
Hamden Police Department provided traffic control at this busy intersection and Hamden’s Community Emergency Response Team provided logistical support as well. Public Works protected nearby apartments from water damage with sandbags and laid down salt and sand over the rapidly forming ice.
CT Transit provided buses, both to keep the impacted residents warm and to transport them to our Keefe Community Center where the American Red Cross and our staff provided assistance.
The Clarion Inn has been an amazing community partner, and through our partnership, all families were provided rooms. The managers, Brian and Megan, came to Keefe Monday night to help place people.
Councilman Abdul Osmanu was on hand last night to help gather food for people, while Councilman Adrian Webber and State Representative Robyn Porter helped collect requests for clothes and supplies.
Below is a compilation of the requests from impacted families for specific items they need:
Gently used/new clothes, all sizes; specifically:
2T clothes
3T clothes
Medium sweatpants
7/8 pants
14/16 pants
32/30 pants
32 pants
Gently used/new jackets and hoodies, all sizes; specifically:
XXXXL jacket
New underwear and socks; specifically:
Boxers, sizes large-XXL
Underwear, sizes 2T-XXXL
New footwear; specifically:
Size 7 toddler shoes
Size 7.5 shoes
Size 8 shoes
Size 9 ½ shoes
Size 10 shoes
Size 11 shoes
Hygiene items; specifically:
Wipes
Diapers
Pull ups
Floss
Tampons
Pads
Body Wash
Deodorant
Other Items:
Art supplies
New toys for ages 2-12
Apple phone chargers
Snack food
Water
Juice boxes
Gift cards
***Please drop off these items at the Keefe Community Center this week, Wednesday 2/16 – Friday 2/18 between 8:30am and 4:30pm. You may also drop off these items on Tuesday, February 22 between 7:30am and 9:30am at the Clarion Hotel, 2260 Whitney Ave, Hamden. Items will be give out on Tuesday, February 22. ***
We have put a secure donation link on the Town website so we can come together as a community of support. Please follow this link to make direct donations to our Community Services Fund: https://bit.ly/3rRucBC
It meant so much to me to see these families Monday night at the fire and then as they were being processed by Community Services and the Red Cross at Keefe. I stopped by Keefe again yesterday as more people came through, and we went to the Clarion Inn yesterday evening.
We are doing everything we can to help them get back on their feet. My heart goes out to the families impacted by the fire.
For further information, please contact AnneMarie Karavas in Community Services at Keefe Community Center, by phone, (203) 562-5129 ext. 1110 or by email,
AKaravas@Hamden.com.
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