Twenty-four vehicles were damaged in a fire discovered Saturday at 4 a.m. inside a carport at 7 Densmore Drive in Essex Junction.
The extended carport, which housed multiple cars, was fully ablaze when police and firefighters arrived. The carport is a standalone building with a dozen parking slots on each side of the building.
Firefighters from the Essex and Essex Junction fire departments were able to extinguish the fire before it spread to nearby buildings and homes.
Once it was safe to examine the interior of the carport, authorities found that 24 vehicles had been damaged, and several destroyed.
An adjacent condominium building had heat damage and broken windows.
It appears the fire started inside one vehicle and quickly spread to the others, Essex police said.
The fire is considered suspicious and an investigation is being conducted by Essex police detectives, assisted by the Vermont State Police Fire Investigation team and the Vermont Division of Fire Safety.
Police said there were several reports of thefts from vehicles overnight in the same area, as well as others around the village, but it’s not yet known if they’re related to the fire.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Essex police at 802-878-8331.
— Tom Kearney
Read the story on VTDigger here: Essex Junction fire damages 24 vehicles, condominium.