Fire officials in Putney say the fire that destroyed the Putney General Store overnight is being labeled suspicious.
Putney Fire Department Chief Thomas Goddard says the four-alarm blaze is of undetermined origin, but he says the fact that the building was unheated and unoccupied – together with the speed with which the fire spread – makes it suspicious.
More than 100 firefighters from Vermont and New Hampshire battled the fire, which was reported about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
For many in Putney, the fire is doubly tragic. The Putney Historical Society, which bought the building after a fire in May 2008, was nearly finished with renovations and was in the process of leasing it to a new general store operator when the second fire hit.