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Fire Ravages Vermont Field Sports On Route 7 In Middlebury

photo by Mike Cameron

photo by Mike Cameron

photo by Mike Cameron Fire investigators look for clues as to what caused an intense fire that destroyed Vermont Field Sports in Middlebury on April 26th. Over 60 firefighters resonded to the blaze. The building was a total loss.

photo by Mike Cameron Vermont Field Sports store owner Dick Phillips points out information to fire investigators at the scene of a fire that destroyed his store on Thursday night April 26th. The cause of the fire is still undetermined and is under investigation.

Tuesday May 1, 2007

By Mike Cameron

   Vermont Field Sports, the landmark outdoor store that had served area sportsmen and women for over two decades, burned to the ground on Thursday night, April 26, 2007 during an intense blaze that rapidly swept through the entire structure from ceiling to floor.

   Fire investigators were at the scene on Friday morning interviewing witnesses to the blaze, comparing notes with firemen, digging through charred rubble and examining the debris.  The Voice has learned that the fire is believed to have begun in a storage room in the northwest corner of the building.  

   The Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department was the first fire company on scene at approximately 10:15 p.m.  “When our crews arrived, the building was totally involved and there were several explosions that lit up the night sky that could be seen while we were on our way here,” MVFD Chief Richard Cole explained as he surveyed the fire scene the morning after the blaze.  Cole also pointed out that ammunition from the gun department continued to go off while firefighters fought the flames.  “We were unable to enter the building and had to fight the fire from the outside because of the heat, flames and igniting ammunition,” Cole continued.  

   The main concern of firefighters was to contain the roaring blaze to the wood framed Vermont Field Sports building and prevent the fire from spreading to nearby businesses and storage sheds.  

   VFS inventory was completely destroyed by the fire.  No injuries were reported.  Over 60-firefighters from Middlebury, Bristol, and New Haven with Weybridge covering in reserve battled the blaze. A Vermont Department of Public Safety Fire Investigation team assisted by Middlebury P.D. an MVFD have  publicly reported that the official cause of the fire is still under investigation.    

   The building that housed Vermont Field Sports has a long retail history in the Middlebury area.  Prior to Field Sports, occupying the building in 1984 it was home to Western Auto with the original building being constructed in 1972.  Then came the Charlestown Mill Store,  Dundon Plumbing and Heating, and a fabric and sewing store as the years progressed.

    VFS Owner Richard Phillips who also owns another sporting goods store in Morrisville Vt. told The Voice on Friday morning that he was notified that his store was on fire Thursday night by fire officials and that by the time he arrived on scene the fire was out and what remained of the building was “just a steaming mass of charred ruins.”

    “That telephone pole right there was burning near the top,” he explained pointing to a utility pole that supplied electrical service to the business in the rear of the building.

   Phillips said that he was in the process of examining the loss with his financial and legal advisors and would need to complete that process before he could accurately give a total damage assessment or what his future plans for Vermont Field Sports might be. 

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