EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A fire at Gilles Sales and Service late last night took firefighters about two and a half hours to extinguish, according to the East Montpelier Fire Chief, Thomas Parker.
The East Montpelier Fire Department received a call just before 11 p.m. about a fire at the local boat and snowmobile shop. No one was injured in the blaze.
The fire was mostly confined to the area of origin near walls and ceilings around a boiler in the building. The chief said the boiler likely started the fire, but the cause won’t be confirmed until after an investigation.
Only one boat inside the shop was damaged.
Trevor Hess of Hardwick, a customer who came to check on the scene, and his snowmobile, said he learned about the fire on social media.
“Woke up this morning and saw it on Facebook, I wanted to see how bad it was we knew the whole building was connected and just worried about the business, we had a sled in there and glad everything seems to be okay,” Hess said.
Multiple fire departments responded to the scene, including Montpelier, Barre City and Town, Middlesex, Plainfield and Cabot.
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