RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) -- A fire heavily damaged buildings in a warehouse complex downtown late Wednesday.
The blaze was discovered shortly after 10 p.m. at Building D of the Mintzer Brothers compound near downtown.
Sgt. Jamie Tarbell of the Rutland City Police, who was on a traffic safety detail, noticed smoke billowing from the building, police said.
Before long, flames were visible from several blocks away. Firefighters from the city and Rutland Town were called to battle the fire.
There were no initial reports of injuries, although one of the fire trucks was involved in a minor collision, police said.
``Unfortunately, when they got here, they got up close to the scene and realized they wanted to connect to a hydrant,'' said Sgt. John Sly of the Rutland City Police. ``When the driver began to back up, he inadvertently got too close to two parked cars.''
Sly characterized the damage to the cars as minor dents.
The compound is made up of storage buildings owned by Edward Gartner and Allen Gartner and used by a number of local businesses. Building D mainly housed vehicles.
West Street was closed off for several blocks while firefighters worked to control the blaze and keep it from spreading.
With fire hoses running across the railroad tracks, Vermont Railway and Amtrak were notified and all trains on the line were canceled.
No details were immediately available on what caused the fire and what the full extent of the damage was.
