Milton police, fire and rescue officials responded to 358 Bear Trap Road at 1:23 p.m. Monday, after receiving a 9-1-1 report of a garage fire, Fire Chief Don Turner said. Flames had spread to a large portion of the house by the time firefighters arrived and realized they faced a daunting water shortage, Turner said.
The house was located on a winding rural road without fire hydrants. A hydrant on the Lamoille River was more than two miles away; the surface of a pond located in front of the house was frozen.
``You'd think with a pond in front, it would be easier. But this time of year, it's difficult,'' Turner said.
Aid from Colchester, Georgia, Malletts Bay and St. Michael's fire departments arrived with more water and the fire was under control within a half hour, he said. By that point, however, the fire had rapidly spread to most of the three-family house, built, owned and lived in by Milton developer William Sawyer.
No one was home when the blaze started, Turner said, and no one was injured while fighting the fire. The cause of Monday's fire will be investigated by Vermont State Police, he said.
John Cushing, Milton's town clerk, said the fire consumed one of the town's largest houses.
``It was big; it was beautiful. It was certainly one of, if not the, largest houses in town,'' Cushing said. ``A lot of time went into that building.''
