MALLETTS BAY, Vt. -
Firefighters say a fire has destroyed or damaged ten buildings at the Brown Ledge Camp in Malletts Bay.
Police say the fire is considered suspicious and they are investigating.
Firefighters say no camp staff or campers were there at the time. According the camp's website, it has been a girl's camp for 82-years, offering four and eight week summer session.
"You're looking at history here. And great history," Malletts Bay Fire Chief David Scibek said.
The ten buildings that were impacted included cabins. A nearby mess hall, that was built in 2002, was not seriously damaged.
It took four fire departments several hours to contain the fire.
Firefighters say the estimate of the damage cost is hard to know because the camp is historic.
"If unchecked this entire complex could have been gone," Chief Scibek said.
Fire departments at the camp worked hard to save a new cafeteria and other cabins. They also were battling a forest fire. Witnesses say the flames were spreading quickly across the camp.
"The fire was burning up in the canopies so the fire was up to twenty five thirty feet," Chris White said.
The wind didn't help. Chief Scibek said gusts up to thirty miles per hour were flinging flames across the campsite. Although there is a lake nearby, the water wasn't as easy to access to fight the fire as a fire hydrant might be.
"The wind was blowing embers the size of my fist onto neighboring buildings that had yet to catch on fire," Chief Scibek said.
What makes this fire suspicious though is that no campers or staff were there at the time and the power had been shut off.
"The major factor that we're dealing with here is that there was no power to any of the buildings (which) is the only reason something would catch on fire here. The camp was closed down for the winter. There was no one here. So we're looking at it as a suspicious fire," Scibek said.
