UPS Truck Catches Fire in Front of Town Hall

Town Hall had to be evacuated and it closed down for roughly 30 minutes Wednesday morning after a UPS delivery truck caught fire in front and billowed smoke.

According to the Darien Times, Noroton Fire Department Captain John Hessmer said engine failure caused the fire, and the truck was already in flames when its driver pulled up to Town Hall. The fire occurred at about 10 a.m.

Town officials were worried that the building's ventilation intake would spread smoke throughout the building, but the system was shut down, said Fire Marshall Robert Buch, who was away from Town Hall when the fire started.

Crews from all three Darien fire departments were at the scene, Buch said. After the fire was put out, UPS staff guarded the packages in the truck, some of which were burning and all of which were later hauled away by UPS, the Darien Times reported.

UPS also hired a cleanup company to scour the scene. UPS employees still on the scene at about 4 p.m. said they would not comment at all about the situation and referred a reporter to a UPS public relations office, which didn't pick up the phone and didn't respond to a voice message left shortly before 5 p.m.