A fire reported around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday on Bridgeport's West Side displaced six families from a multifamily home and left one person with non-life-threatening injuries. The cause remains under investigation as city officials work to find temporary housing for those affected.
Firefighters were called to the area of Hanover Street after a report of a structure fire, according to wfsb.com. A second alarm was struck after crews arrived. The station reported that six adults, three children and two pets were displaced, and that one occupant was evaluated by AMR as a precaution. The cause remains under investigation, the station reported.
A second-floor resident told News 12 New York that she escaped with her baby after a neighbor warned her about the flames. Fire officials told the outlet that one person was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Mayor Joe Ganim toured the site and met with displaced families, News 12 reported.
City Scrambles to House Six Displaced Families
The Bridgeport Housing Authority owns the property, and city officials are working with the authority to secure temporary housing for the six displaced families, according to News 12 New York. The Red Cross provided one night of emergency shelter; officials said they hoped to find a longer-term option before that arrangement ended.
The burned building sits next to the site of a three-alarm fire that tore through the neighborhood on February 27, 2015, destroying three multifamily homes and heavily damaging a fourth, displacing 12 families, according to News 12 New York. That earlier blaze, which ignited on the second floor of 350 Hanover Street and spread to three adjacent buildings, left 10 to 12 families without homes, as reported by NBC Connecticut.
A New Complex Rose From the 2015 Ashes
That 2015 fire eventually gave way to new construction: a new affordable housing complex opened at the same site earlier this year, according to News 12 Connecticut. The development, known as Hanover Homes, consists of three multifamily houses with three apartments each, and Mayor Ganim described it as a $10 million long-term investment for the city.
Hanover Homes and the Affordable Housing Effort
The path from the 2015 fire to the new housing development included plans announced years later: News 12 Connecticut reported that Park City Communities said in September 2024 the Hanover Street project would provide long-term affordable housing for nine families. News 12 Connecticut later reported that Hanover Homes opened at the site earlier this year. The City of Bridgeport’s 2024 CAPER says Park City Communities manages nearly 2,600 public housing equivalent units and 2,800 Section 8 vouchers.
Wednesday's fire is the latest in a string of multialarm blazes that have hit Bridgeport this year. In April, a separate three-alarm fire struck two buildings — a multifamily home and a home with a first-floor business — displacing 14 adults, two children and two cats, with one person hospitalized for smoke inhalation, Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cody told News 12 Connecticut. In August, another Bridgeport fire displaced eight people, five adults and three children, though no injuries were reported that time, according to The Hartford Courant.
The families are relying on Red Cross shelter and city assistance while investigators work to determine what caused the fire near Hanover Street.
