PHILLIPS – Firefighters on four-wheelers hauled about a mile of hose into the woods off Hare Street in Avon Sunday night to get to a camp that was burning.
The fire is considered “suspicious,” Phillips Fire Chief Glendon Bachelder said Monday.
“We’re not sure what happened,” Bachelder said.
The two-story camp, owned by Lauri Sibulkin of Avon, had been vacant for some time, and there was no electrical power there, he said. Sibulkin didn’t have any insurance on the camp, he said.
About 40 firefighters from Kingfield, Phillips, Salem and Strong responded to the blaze, which was reported at 6:44 p.m.
The camp was in the woods about a mile from the closest road, Bachelder said.
Fire spread to some of the trees around the camp, he said. The trees were scorched and about a quarter-acre of grass also burned, he said.
An old road or trail used to lead to the camp. It is now accessible by four-wheelers.
Firefighters hauled in lengths of hose on all-terrain vehicles, then laid each one out and connected it to the next piece until it reached the camp, Bachelder said. Four-wheelers also carried firefighters into the woods, he added.
Hare Street is off Andy Valley Road, which is located off Route 4.
Firefighters shuttled water from the nearest hydrant at the intersection of the two streets.
“We were close to an hour getting the hose line laid to the fire,” he said. “The camp had actually fallen in by then.” The building was a log cabin, he said.
Bachelder said he called state fire investigators about the fire and was waiting to hear from someone.
Firefighters worked into the early hours Monday to extinguish the fire and the hot spots.
“We used hand tools and what water we had,” Bachelder said.
It is the second suspicious fire in Phillips this year. A fire extensively damaged a commercial-residential building on Easter Sunday, March 27, on Bridge Street. State fire investigators ruled that the fire was intentionally set. No one has yet been charged in that case.
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