Category Archives: Police & Fire

TOP STORY: Old Lyme Resident State Trooper to Leave Post After Five Years

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Resident State Trooper Matt Weber and comfort dog, Viera, will be transferring to Connecticut State Police headquarters to support the agency’s peer support program. File photo.

OLD LYME–The resident state trooper in charge of the Old Lyme Police Department for the past five years will be leaving early next month to lead the Connecticut State Police peer support program. 

Connecticut State Police Resident State Trooper Matt Weber on Friday said word came through the day before that he’ll be transferring Oct. 3 to the Middletown headquarters as the coordinator of the State Troopers Offering Peer Support (STOPS) program. 

He said the state police will assign a temporary resident trooper to cover the town while the agency goes through the process of finding a permanent replacement. 

Webe currently oversees five Old Lyme constables with full police powers. The resident trooper program provides leadership in more than 50 towns across the state without independent police departments. 

Weber, who lives in town, described the move as bittersweet. 

“Definitely, it’s a town I love, so hopefully I left it a little bit better than I found it,” he said. 

First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker on Friday said Weber’s presence has led to a stronger summer ranger program, which places seasonal staff under the police department’s direction to patrol public beaches. She said the resident trooper has also helped curb fights and illegal activity at Sound View Beach. 

Resident State Trooper Matt Weber. File photo contributed by Connecticut State Police.

Shoemaker credited Weber with focusing on hiring new officers rather than exclusively making lateral hires from other departments. 

“His unique approach to build our staff by training officers at the Connecticut Police Academy has allowed us to hire individuals who have always wanted to be police officers and are now serving our town to the best of their ability,” she said. 

Among them are Officer Ethan Kula, a former summer ranger in Old Lyme who was hired in 2022 at the age of 24. Most recently, Patrolman George Sirigos graduated the academy in January as a 31 year old. 

Before Kula, Corporal Dominic Solari was the last Old Lyme officer to go through the academy in 2006. 

Shoemaker said she has not been given a timetable for securing Weber’s permanent replacment. She also has not been told what the town’s role will be in the selection process, though she hopes to sit in on hiring interviews.

She said staff members at the police department and town hall will miss Weber greatly in his professional capacity. But she acknowledged the town resident isn’t going anywhere.

“We’re still going to see him in Big Y,” she said.

Weber will bring 17 years of experience as a state trooper when he takes over the peer support program from state police Sgt. Rodney Valdes. 

Weber said he looks forward to the opportunity to help other troopers, “just for the mental well-being of them.”

He declined to further discuss his time in Old Lyme or his new role, citing the advice of the state police public information officer. 

The state police STOPS program provides peer counseling for troopers and other first responders in personal or professional crises, according to state police. The specially-trained network of troopers also helps during non-crisis situations amid the daily stresses of working for the state police.

Overnight Fire Destroys Old Lyme Cottage

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OLD LYME–An overnight fire destroyed a seasonal cottage on Brookside Avenue in the Old Colony Beach Association area of town.

Old Lyme Fire Marshal Dave Roberge said the call from a neighbor came in around 1:43 a.m. Wednesday. Crews from Old Lyme Fire Department and several nearby departments found the house fully ablaze. 

The house was unoccupied at the time, Roberge said. There were no injuries. The cause remains under investigation by the fire marshal. 

There wasn’t much left of the house by the time crews arrived so it didn’t take firefighters long to put out the fire, according to Roberge. He described it as a “total loss.” Crews remained on scene until about 5:30 a.m.

Assessor’s records show the one story, 1940 bungalow at 27 Brookside Ave. is owned by Patricia Capasso of Wethersfield. 

Roberge said there was thermal damage to two homes on one side of the house.

Departments from East Lyme, Lyme, Essex, Old Saybrook and Clinton also responded. 

Roberge asked anyone with photos or video of the fire to send them to him at firemarshal@oldlyme-ct.gov. The information can also be submitted by sending a direct message to the Old Lyme Fire Department’s Facebook page at facebook.com/oldlymefire.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to clarify the date of the fire.

Septic Truck Catches Fire on Halls Rd. in Old Lyme

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Flames pour from a septic pumper truck parked in the Old Lyme Shopping Center Wednesday afternoon. Photo by K. Monson.

OLD LYME–The local fire marshal said a blaze that ignited in the engine compartment of a septic pumper truck was contained to the cab by firefighters in a Halls Road parking lot Wednesday afternoon. 

Old Lyme crews were called to the Old Lyme Shopping Center at 1:16 p.m., according to Old Lyme Fire Marshal David Roberge. Lyme and Old Saybrook fire departments also responded. 

Roberge said the driver of the Finkeldey Septic Service truck went in to get lunch at Papi’s Taqueria, then came out to find the truck on fire. 

No other property was damaged, the fire marshal said. 

Representatives of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a private contractor were still at the scene as of 4:30 p.m. cleaning up oil and firefighting foam, according to Roberge.  

He said the tank of the septic truck, which was empty, did not catch fire. 

“No poop was lost,” he said. 

Also Wednesday afternoon, fire departments from Old Lyme and Lyme were fighting a 100 ft. by 200 ft. brush fire on Burr Road in Old Lyme resulting from a lawnmower that caught fire. 

The call came in at 3:31 p.m., Roberge said. 

Why are there Red Lights on an Old Lyme Fire Station? Answer: ‘Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters’

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The Old Lyme Fire Department on Lyme Street is lit red this week to honor 70 firefighters who died in the line of duty across the country over the past year. Photo courtesy of the Old Lyme Fire Department.

OLD LYME—The Old Lyme Fire Department has announced Station 38 on Lyme Street will be lit red this week as part of a national initiative to honor fallen firefighters, including Wethersfield firefighter Robert Sharkevich. 

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is inviting fire departments and homes across the country to “light up red” through May 4 to honor 70 firefighters killed in action last year. 

The Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters effort will culminate with the foundation’s 44th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend. Ceremonies will honor the 70 firefighters who died in 2024 as well as 70 from previous years.

Lt. Jessica Rand in a post for the Old Lyme Fire Department on social media said Sharkevich lost his life last October while battling a large brush fire in Berlin that burned over 120 acres on Lamentation Mountain. 

The utility task vehicle he was operating rolled over a steep, rocky incline, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.  He died at the scene. 

The week-long Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters effort is capped on May 3 with a candlelight service and May 4 with the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. 

“We wish we didn’t need that ceremony, but we will light it up red this week to honor them too,” Rand wrote.

The national candlelight service and memorial service will be livestreamed at weekend.firehero.org and on the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation YouTube channel.

State Crews to Monitor Site of 50-Acre Brush Fire in Lyme

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About 38 firefighters, including 15 from Lyme Fire Company, worked Wednesday to put down a roughly 50-acre brush fire in town. Photo courtesy of Lyme Fire Company.

LYME – A roughly 50-acre brush fire that threatened two homes in the woods between Becket Hill Road and Grassy Hill Road yesterday is contained and will be monitored. 

Lyme Fire Company Deputy Chief Sam Adams in a phone call this morning said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was set to return to the area to assess the situation. He said he did not see signs of fire when he drove by early in the day. 

He said the fire, which was called in around 1:54 p.m. Wednesday, was largely extinguished when local crews were sent home around 6:20 p.m.

The state agency kept a crew on scene overnight to monitor hot spots. 

There were no injuries or damage to property, according to Adams.

About 38 firefighters from multiple jurisdictions arrived Wednesday afternoon to find flames moving up the ridgeline toward a house at the top of Becket Hill, Adams said. 

He counted 15 firefighters from the Lyme Fire Company. 

The fire was located in the woods between Becket Hill Road and Grassy Hill Road. Photo courtesy of Lyme Fire Company.

He said the DEEP was brought in when crews sent into the woods saw the fire spreading toward another house. 

Also responding were East Haddam Fire Department, Salem Volunteer Fire Company, Old Saybrook Fire Department, Old Lyme Fire Department, Montville Fire Co #1, Essex Fire Engine Co. #1, Niantic Fire Department, Flanders Fire Department and Lyme Ambulance Association. 

Crews of two or three firefighters each were sent out in compact, maneuverable utility vehicles affixed with water tanks, according to Adams. Some used rakes and leaf blowers to create a fire line about six to eight feet wide in front of the flames.

“The hope is that when the fire reaches that point, there’s no more material for it to actually burn,” he said. 

Calm winds prevented embers from “jumping the fire line” and helped prevent flames from spreading past the barrier created by the firefighters, according to Adams. 

Lyme Fire Company in a social media post credited Essex Fire Marshal John Planas for bringing in a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera. The drone, which flew for the duration of the incident, allowed for more refined tactics and a rapid reduction in the size of the fire.

“That was a very, very big help as far as getting eyes on top of the fire and kind of seeing what direction it was headed,” Adams said.

The deputy chief expected to hear from the DEEP with an assessment of conditions in the afternoon.