Nighttime Fire Is Ruled Arson
By Sandy Vondrasek

This is all that was left of a mobile home on Route 12 north of Randolph Tuesday after an early morning fire destroyed the home at 3:30 a.m. Police say the fire was purposely set. Fortunately, the two residents and their pets escaped. (Herald / Bob Eddy)

The fire that destroyed a Route 12 residence in Randolph early Tuesday morning was clearly arson, and the blaze was started from the outside of the mobile home by "at least one incendiary device," state police reported late Tuesday.

Two people, Scott Noyes, 36, and Deanna Hodgdon, 23, were sleeping inside at the time of the 3:30 a.m. fire. According to police, the couple, and their pet dog and cat all were able to exit the building.

Perry Hodgdon, Jr., who is Deanna’s father and who lives a few hundred feet from the mobile home that burned, said yesterday he was awakened that morning when the young couple ran into his home from their burning one.

Randolph firefighters were on scene, battling the fire, for more than four hours, and as soon as they were done, the property quickly turned into an intense crime scene investigation.

Close to a dozen police investigators—including the Vermont State Police "crime scene search team"—spent all day Tuesday scouring the fire site and surrounding property. Cruisers and the crime scene van were still on site after 5 p.m. Tuesday. Some areas of the property were roped off as crime scene areas.

So far, police have released few details about the crime, which they are calling first-degree arson, that is, setting fire to a residence, whether occupied, unoccupied, or vacant.

Randolph Village Fire Chief Jay Collette, who provided details on firefighters’ efforts, referred all questions about the cause of the fire to state police. Perry Hodgdon Jr. said he did not want to provide any information beyond what police had issued, for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

A release issued late Tuesday afternoon by three state police investigators reported only that the fire had been started by at least one incendiary device that originated outside the mobile home. They did not define just what sort of device it was. However, the U.S Legal Definitions website describes an incendiary device as "any fuel and or device designed or specifically adapted to cause harm … by means of fire, and consisting of an incendiary substance and a means to ignite it." Examples included flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails.

The seriousness of this week’s investigation was underscored by the numbers of officers assisting on scene, which were detailed in the release.

"The Vermont State Police Fire Investigation Unit was contacted to conduct an origin and cause investigation," the release stated. "Det. Sgt. Cornell, Det. Sgt. Cruise and Fire Investigator Baranowski responded to the scene … Additional detectives from the Vermont State Police have responded and along with assistance from the Randolph Police Department, have been conducting the investigation throughout the entire day."

The release also noted the assistance of the Crime Scene Search Team and Fish & Wildlife officers.

The fire investigators requested that anyone with information concerning the fire contact Det. Sgt.. Cruise at 234-9933 (Royalton barracks) or at 802-773-9101, or call the Vermont Arson Tip Award Program at 1-800-32-ARSON.

Fire Fight

Chief Collette reported Tuesday that the south end of the mobile home was fully engulfed with fire when firefighters arrived on scene.

Their efforts were briefly hampered by "projectiles" exploding from the home, which turned out be paint cans that exploded after the fire’s heat "pressurized" them.

The Village and Center Departments both responded, and tankers ferried water from the RVFD hydrant to a temporary holding "pond" that firefighters set up near the fire scene.

Collette said there were smoke alarms in the home, but they did not operate. It was "fortunate," he said, that Noyes and Hodgdon were able to escape the building.

Firefighters cleared the scene by 8 a.m., but were called back at 11:30 a.m., by investigators on the scene, to douse some lingering hot spots.

Also responding to the fire scene Tuesday were volunteers from the American Red Cross chapter based in Hartford. The chapter is assisting with immediate emergency needs, such as replacement of food, clothing and winter items. A release from the Red Cross also noted that volunteers, who came from Randolph, Brookfield, and Bethel, also provided "canteening" for emergency personnel on scene.

Perry Hodgdon Jr. said that Noyes, who owned the mobile home, had no insurance on it, and that he and Deanna Hodgdon lost everything in the fire.

The couple is staying with friends, with their two pets. The cat wasn’t found until Tuesday night, he said.