State police are investigating a pair of “suspicious” fires that burned down two camps recently in a remote part of Essex County.
Both incidents happened about a mile apart on Gore Road in Avery’s Gore, an unincorporated area between Brighton and Norton that was uninhabited as of the 2010 census.
Investigators believe both blazes were caused by “direct human involvement,” according to the Vermont State Police. No one was injured in either incident.
The first fire was reported Aug. 25. It appeared to have burned a camp building to the ground either the previous night or early that morning, troopers said.
The second fire likely took place sometime between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1, when it was discovered, troopers said.
No one had reported either fire to the nearby Brighton Fire Department, and both burned until they went out on their own, troopers said.
The second fire, close to Unknown Pond, spread about 30 feet from the building and burned many of the surrounding trees, Detective Sgt. Michael LaCourse said.
LaCourse said that it’s “definitely a possibility” that the two fires were related.
Anyone with information on the cases is asked to call LaCourse at 802-334-8881 or the Vermont Arson Tip Award Program hotline at 1-800-322-7766. The tip program will pay up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Essex County camps destroyed by ‘suspicious’ fires.