MIDDLEBURY — Vermont State Police investigators believe they have traced the cause of a Monday morning fire at Middlebury’s Otterside Court Condominiums to a laptop computer that had been sitting on a bed in the only unit that sustained major damage.
The Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department was called to the condo complex at around 9 a.m. Investigators said the fire was isolated to the upper floor of unit 59, the center condo of a three-unit complex. Middlebury firefighters, assisted by their colleagues from New Haven, were able to get control of the fire and put it down within around 30 minutes, preventing it from spreading to either adjacent unit.
Middlebury Fire Chief Rick Cole said the owner of the unit was fortunately out of town, and no one was injured fighting the blaze. Two cats were reported missing from the condo.
A total of around 45 firefighters from Middlebury and New Haven answered the call, according to Cole.
“It went very well,” he said of the effort.
State police investigators responded to probe the cause of the fire. Those investigators, in consultation with Cole, determined the fire was accidental in nature and most likely linked to a laptop computer on the bed, within the second-floor bedroom of the affected condo.
The entire condo sustained smoke and water damage, with the bulk of the fire damage being isolated to the second floor and a small third-floor loft, according to officials. Damage is estimated at $50,000.
John Flowers is at [email protected].