Car, Brush Fires Break Out On Merritt Parkway In New Canaan: FD

NEW CANAAN, CT — Firefighters extinguished a car and subsequent brush fire that broke out Wednesday afternoon on the Merritt Parkway in New Canaan, according to fire officials.

In a news release, Fire Chief Albe Bassett said a vehicle fire was reported on the Merritt Parkway off-ramp onto Old Stamford Road around 2:30 p.m.

Crews extinguished the fully involved car fire and the driver was able to escape from the vehicle unharmed, Bassett said.

According to Bassett, Connecticut State Police then reported the vehicle blaze had started a brush fire on the southbound side of the parkway, which extended up the embankment and into the woods behind a leaf compost site on Lapham Road.

"The fire department operated multiple hose lines from the Merritt Parkway and the compost site to extinguish about an acre of brush," Bassett said in a news release. "Firefighters operated on scene for four hours."

The Darien, Noroton Heights and Pound Ridge fire departments assisted New Canaan firefighters while crews from Wilton and Westport covered the town, Bassett said.

Bassett also reminded residents not to "discard any smoking materials from a car window or into any organic material around [their] home," and to obey open burning regulations.

"This includes campfires and outside fireplaces," Bassett said.