At 05:29hrs on May 2nd, Norwalk Professional Firefighters were alerted for a multi-vehicle motor vehicle accident involving a fire on interstate 95 Southbound between exits 15 and 14.

As this incident on I-95 was almost immediately adjacent to our Fire Headquarters located on Connecticut Ave, Car 2 (Shift Commander) observed an extremely large volume of fire coming from underneath the Fairfield Ave Bridge as well as a second large column of smoke visible just a few hundred yards away. A 3rd alarm of Fire was sounded bringing all On- Duty NFD Local 830 Firefighters to the scene, except for Truck Co. 1 who was tied up on an EMS call.

Upon arrival of Engine 2, Engine 3, Rescue 2, and Car 2, a fully involved passenger vehicle and tractor trailer fire was located about 200’ prior to the bridge following an accident and a well involved petroleum tanker loaded with 8,500 gallons of gasoline was located directly under the Fairfield Ave Bridge on Fire with flames completely engulfing all 6 lanes of the interstate and reaching well over 75-100ft into the air, Car 2 coordinated the full closure of Interstate 95 and the Fairfield Ave Bridge with both CSP and NPD.

NFD Firefighters set up a 500 ft exclusion zone due to concern for a Boiling-Liquid-Expanding-Vapor Explosion (BLEVE) and possible collapse of the Fairfield Ave Bridge and simultaneously Engine 2 and Engine 3 stretched multiple hoselines to extinguish the initial tractor trailer and vehicle fire and to supply a ground monitor to flow an unattended master stream to cool the tanker truck and underside of the bridge. An additional foam line was placed into operation to control the burning runoff of gasoline from the tanker which burned approximately 100ft down the interstate towards NFD Firefighters.

Engine 3 and Engine 1 completed the complicated manpower intensive operation of hooking up to the hydrant at Stuart and Connecticut Ave and established a positive water source for companies operating on I-95 with Engine 1 relay pumping to maximize the amount of water from the hydrant. Truck 2 was used for an elevated master stream to cool the tanker truck and bridge from the parking lot of NFD Station 2 on Connecticut Ave. Engine 5 established a positive water supply from the hydrant at NFD Station 2 and supplied the waterway of Truck 2.

The QRV (Quick Response Vehicle) Foam Unit was requested to the scene from King Industries, with E4 establishing a positive water supply from the NFD Mechanics shop on Fairfield Ave to the west side of Fairfield Ave bridge. With its onboard tank of Foam, and a positive water supply the King Industries QRV Foam Engine was quickly able to extinguish the bulk of the fire from the tanker truck.

A subsequent 4th alarm was transmitted bringing in fire suppression and Haz-mat resources from the City of Stamford FD into the scene to supply additional foam buckets and reposition a supply line. Stamford chief officers were utilized for safety and other staff functions with NFD Command Staff. The Stamford Hazmat unit was staged but was not utilized.

Norwalk Firefighters set up absorbent booms and dams around affected storm drains to prevent a secondary environmental disaster of gasoline runoff into the drainage system. NFD and NPD Marine units were also deployed to check the Norwalk River for evidence of gasoline runoff from drainage pipes.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was activated at NFD Station 2 with Car 2 retaining command on the highway throughout the rest of the day, assisted by C3, who provided safety and a liaison to the utility contractors arriving on the scene. An additional fire watch engine company was placed in service on the highway to provide suppression coverage as a contractor offloaded the remaining unburned fuel from the tanker and CT DOT examined the structural stability of the bridge. All NFD companies cleared the interstate just before 1700hrs that evening. During this incident, 1 NFD Local 830 firefighter suffered a minor injury, and miraculously no other injuries were reported.

Although this incident severely damaged the Fairfield Ave bridge and caused massive traffic backups. If it wasn’t for the quick response and actions of Local 830 Norwalk Professional Firefighters with assistance and coordination from our Mutual Aid partners, law enforcement and utility providers. The outcome of this low frequently but, extremely high risk incident which was both manpower and labor intensive could have been much worse and highlights the importance of having adequate staffing for fire suppression units in the City of Norwalk to safely mitigate hazards at all incidents both significant and minor as our city continues to grow and the demand on NFD Local 830 Firefighters continues to rise.