BRATTLEBORO — A blaze early Thursday morning at the abandoned Sportsman’s Lounge knocked out power and communication lines that serve residents in this town and neighboring Guilford and Vernon.
The Brattleboro Fire Department responded to the boarded-up building on Canal Street shortly after 5 a.m. to find flames reaching as high as the overhead utility wires, municipal officials said.
The blaze had gutted the condemned structure — set for demolition this fall after its bar and grill closed about 10 years ago — by the time firefighters extinguished it by 9 a.m.
Canal Street remained closed Thursday as crews in bucket trucks worked to replace burned wires.
Green Mountain Power reported 1,400 customers with related outages at the start of the fire, with all but 217 restored as of 11 a.m. Thursday, spokesperson Kristin Kelly said.
Comcast customers in Brattleboro, Guilford and Vernon told VTDigger they received notices that internet, television and phone services would be down until 4 p.m. Thursday, although the company could not be reached for comment.
Neighbors said they heard two explosions around 5 a.m. before seeing flames. Staff from the state fire marshal’s office was on the scene, but officials have yet to announce a cause.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Brattleboro fire knocks out power, communication lines in three towns.