MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-- State and local officials on Friday were investigating the cause of an April 26 blaze that destroyed the Vermont Field Sports store on Route 7 South in Middlebury.
More than 60 firefighters from three area municipal departments responded to the fire at around 10:30 p.m., according to Middlebury Fire Chief Rick Cole. The blaze, fueled by large quantities of ammunition in the sporting goods store, moved quickly through the building.
"It was intense," Cole said of the fire. "There was no way we could get inside."
Getting close to this particular fire posed special concerns for firefighters. The sounds of exploding ammunition rounds filled the air, raising some fears that people could be hit by stray projectiles, Cole noted.
The explosions roused neighbors, some of whom gathered near the site to take in the scene and lament the destruction of what had been a very popular store among Addison County hunters and anglers.
Authorities took special precautions to cordon off the site. They closed Route 7, in both directions, between Foote Street and Halladay Road. That road closing lasted from approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday night to around 2:30 a.m. on Friday.
Cole said firefighters from the Middlebury, Bristol and New Haven fire departments spent about two hours extinguishing the blaze. Weybridge firefighters provided coverage at the Middlebury station.
Officials believe the fire started in the northern end of the building -- where the store's fishing tackle had been displayed -- though the exact cause of the blaze had not been determined as the Addison Independent went to press.
Cole said no one was injured as a result of the fire.
No other buildings within the Wolcott Shopping Center sustained fire damage.
Friday morning saw Vermont Field Sports owner Dick Phillips surveying the remnants of the store he had established 25 years ago.
"This was my retirement plan," said Phillips, 67, who has not ruled out resurrecting the business at a future date.
The building, owned by Kevin Newton, was built during the 1970s for Western Auto, according to Cole.
It hosted other tenants throughout its history, including the Charlestown Mill Store and Dundon's. Phillips, then a Middlebury police officer, launched Vermont Field Sports in 1982 in what is now referred to as the "little red schoolhouse" building on Route 7 South, a structure that now hosts the Grapevine Grille.
In 1984, Phillips moved the store to its familiar location in the Wolcott Shopping Center.
Phillips said the business was insured. He estimates Thursday's fire claimed around 400 to 500 guns. The store also contained an abundance of fishing supplies, ammunition and hunting gear.
But much more than material things were lost in the fire. Vermont Field Sports was a place where hunters and anglers would gather to share stories about "the one that got away," or new game/fishing rules being considered by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
"That's what old-type sporting stores do," Phillips said of the casual conversation with customers. "We kept the pot of coffee on."
The store brought shoppers to Middlebury, many of who also spent money elsewhere in town, said Carl DeCoster, who worked at Vermont Field Sports for more than two decades. DeCoster, a Monkton resident, surveyed the destruction of his former workplace on Friday and lamented the destruction of countless hunting and fishing trophies that adorned the walls of Vermont Field Sports.
The store truly was a clubhouse for some sportsmen.
"There were antique guns in there that were irreplaceable," DeCoster said. "I had a dozen sets of antlers in there. A friend of mine had a whole lifetime's collection of trophies (including six mounted buck's heads), and he was known as a pretty good hunter.
"It's a local institution gone down the drain."
Republished with permission of the Addison Independent.
