Published: 7/17/2018 3:18:32 PM
Modified: 7/19/2018 6:24:10 PM
Woodstock — A fire that gutted part of a Central Street building early Monday morning is being investigated as suspicious, Woodstock Fire Chief David Green said.
“The state police did an investigation in the restaurant and they have determined that (the fire) was suspicious in origin,” Green said in an interview on Tuesday. He did not elaborate on what evidence led investigators to their conclusion.
Firefighters spent much of Monday battling the blaze, which began around 3:30 a.m. at 47-55 Central St., which was separated by a firewall into an old, wooden structure and an adjoining stone one.
The wooden portion was deemed a total loss, and tenants likely won’t be allowed back in until next week, Green said. The fire destroyed Pi Brick Oven Trattoria, the restaurant on the first floor, as well as offices of the Vermont Standard weekly newspaper and an apartment that housed two people and their pets.
No one was injured in the blaze, officials said.
Messages left for Pi owner Sarah Callander were not returned on Tuesday.
Workers on Tuesday morning fenced off the remains of the wooden building, and installed new locks on the adjoining stone building that houses the production area for the Standard and Collective — The Art of Craft gallery.
At the same time, employees of the art gallery worked in the dark to ship purchases that were delayed during the blaze, and prepare for smoke remediation. The gallery, which plans to re-open on Saturday, sustained minor smoke damage and lost electricity during Monday’s fire.
The Collective was closed for almost two months during recent construction work to replace the bridge on Central Street, which also is Route 4, that runs over Kedron Brook. Several downtown business said the construction negatively affected their sales.
State investigators at the scene on Monday said they believed the fire began on the building’s first floor, in the restaurant’s office space. Members of the Vermont State Police and state Fire Investigation Unit collected several samples of debris from the building to be tested for accelerants, or substances that can be used to speed up a fire.
A police K-9 also was brought to the scene on Monday to detect accelerants, and alerted its handler to multiple piles of debris.
Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Thomas Williams said on Tuesday that no new information is available on the fire.
A sign was posted outside of the building offering up to a $6,000 reward for information on the fire. People with relevant information are asked to call 1-800-32-ARSON.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.
Correction
Kathy Myers is the manager of Collective — The Art of Craft. An earlier photo caption gave an incorrect last name.