New London – The city’s acting fire marshal has determined that two of four major residential fires reported in the last 12 days were accidental, caused by smoking materials and unattended food on the stove.

Acting Fire Marshal Vernon Skau said a March 18 two-alarm fire at a multi-family home at 73 Riverview Ave. was caused by carelessly discarded smoking material.

The fire at the three-story building burned portions of the top two levels and originated on the roof, Skau said. He said someone from apartment No. 4 discarded smoking material out a window and it landed on the roof where the fire started. At least eight people were displaced.

Skau said he has also ruled accidental a March 24 fire at Nutmeg Woods apartment complex at 175 Hawthorne Drive.

That fire was sparked by unattended food on the stove, Skau said. Cooking mishaps are the cause of nearly half of all residential fires reported in the U.S. each year, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

Firefighters contained the flames to Unit 25J but there was heat and smoke damage to common areas and several other units.

About a dozen people were temporarily displaced from the fire. Firefighters used ladders to rescue two people trapped by smoke on upper-level balconies. Several people, including a police officer who ran into a building and was overcome by smoke, were treated at the hospital.

Two days after the fire on Hawthorne Drive, on March 26, eight people were displaced by an early morning fire at a two-family home at 17 W. Coit St.

Skau said he had called on the state fire marshal’s office to aid in the investigation. An arson dog responded to the scene to sniff for accelerants, such as gasoline.

Skau ruled the West Coit Street fire incendiary in nature, or intentionally set, but declined to discuss details of the investigation. He said he is working with city police in the arson investigation.

Residents from the first-floor apartment reported hearing a man banging at the door and yelling towards upstairs tenants shortly before the fire started on the front porch. Eight people were displaced.

The state is offering up to $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest of the person or persons responsible for setting the fire. Call the Connecticut Arson Hotline at 1 (800) 84 ARSON or New London police at (860) 447-5269 with any information about the fire.

Skau said he is still investigating a fire early Sunday that displaced 13 people from a rooming house at 62 Jay St. One person was treated for smoke inhalation in that fire. There are no indications any of the fires are related.

g.smith@theday.com

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