Bridgeport Warehouse Fire Rekindles

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 24, 2013 3:25PM

Firefighters returned to the abandoned Harris Marcus Group warehouse in Bridgeport early Thursday morning after the 5-11 blaze that destroyed the building Wednesday reignited.

Fire Department officials said this was expected, given all the wood in the building's materials. Fire Department spokeswoman Meg Ahlheim said there were hot spots identified where the roof and floors collapsed prone to reignite as debris was moved.

To put out the fire, the Fire Deparment brought in a deluge system known as "Big Mo," which can throw 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of water a minute at a fire. Firefighters will likely be fighting those hotspots for days and the sheer volume of water used to put it out—and led to the thick walls of ice now covering the building—may render the warehouse unstable.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said Tuesday the fire was the largest of its kind in the city in nine years. A Fire Department captain on the scene was heard saying he hadn't seen a fire like this since the 1980s.