By Steve Bradley and Doug La Rocque
The blaze broke out shortly before 1 pm on Tuesday, April 30 in one of the oldest buildings on the Bennington College campus, called The Barn. The two-story U-shaped structure, which dates back before the college was opened in 1932, housed both classrooms and offices. School officials said everyone escaped safely, although one firefighter from Shaftsbury, VT received minor injuries. He was treated at Southwest Vermont Medical Center and released.
Fire departments from Bennington, Rensselaer and Washington counties responded to the mutual aid call, most for either ladder trucks or with equipment to fight the fire internally, some from as far as 30 miles away
The eastern side was the primary area of the fire. The fire began around 1 pm and out of area departments were released between 4 and 5 pm. Early on the scene was extremely smoky, and one fireman commented that he “could smell the smoke up on Harwood Hill,” about two miles away.
The U-shaped building was identified as an administrative and records storage building, along with a library and other uses. College personnel were seen retrieving as many pieces of art from the building as they safely were able to and some of the art appeared to be wet.
Fire departments called to the scene were Hoosick, Hoosick Falls, West Hoosick, Cambridge, White Creek, Petersburgh, Greenwich, Mountain View, Pittstown, Melrose, Bennington, Bennington Rural, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Manchester, North Bennington and several others. Vermont fire investigators say at this time they believe the cause to be electrical.
People working inside the building had reported hearing buzzing and pops just before the fire broke out. Fire officials say the flames spread up a wall and into the attic area, causing damage to a large portion of the building.
The college administration is estimating the damage to be about $250,000.