By Taylor Hartz
Hartford Courant
MERIDEN, Conn. — Meriden city officials are reminding residents not to park in front of fire hydrants after firefighters were forced to break through the windows of a minivan while responding to a house fire on Wednesday night.
Firefighters responded to a blaze at a multi-family home on Randolph Street just before midnight Wednesday and found that the closest fire hydrant was blocked by a parked minivan, according to the Meriden City Manager’s Office.
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The department had to break the vehicle’s windows to run the hose through the van. The city said this was the second time in six months that firefighters’ access to a hydrant was blocked.
“This fire is a reminder to folks of what can happen when you decide to park in front of a fire hydrant,” the city manager’s office said in a statement Thursday.
In the state of Connecticut, it is illegal to park within 10 feet of a hydrant.
Seven people were displaced by the fire, but no one was injured, officials said.
Investigators found that the blaze was started accidentally by a pillow sitting atop an electric baseboard, officials said.
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