Police think cigarette sparked deadly fire

A cigarette might have sparked the deadly blaze at an apartment house in Springfield over the weekend, a police official said.

http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2010/01/19/news/local/free/id_386990.txt

Police think cigarette sparked deadly Vermont fire

By PHILLIP BANTZ
Keene Sentinel Staff
Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — A cigarette might have sparked the deadly blaze at an apartment house in Vermont over the weekend, a police official said.

Investigators discovered a man’s body late Sunday afternoon while sifting through the scorched remains of the house, according to Springfield Police Chief Douglas S. Johnston.

Officials have declined to identify the body, which was sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy.

However, Michael Woychosky, who owns the burned house at 17 Pearl St., said the body belongs to one of his renters, Leslie Streeter.

“His family members have told me they’re making funeral arrangements,” Woychosky said. “It’s a tragic situation. He’d been a tenant of mine for quite a few years.”

Streeter rented a section of the 21/2-story house with his live-in companion, Linda, Woychosky said. He did not know Linda’s last name.

Attempts to contact Streeter’s family members — they reside in Walpole and Westminster, Vt., according to Woychosky — were unsuccessful.

The house was nearly engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived Saturday shortly after 5 p.m., according to Springfield Fire Chief Russell Thompson. Several residents of the house, which was split into two apartments, escaped without serious injuries, he said.

Investigators had to use an excavator to sort through the rubble from the wrecked house, Johnston said.

“We had to take it off piece by piece,” he said. “The structure was not safe enough for us to go in.”

Streeter was found lying near the front door of what was left of the house, Woychosky said. Neighbors are speculating that Streeter, who was in his 50s, died while trying to fight the flames, he said.

Springfield police, Vermont State Police and the Vermont Division of Public Safety continue investigate the fire, which appears accidental, Johnston said.

“It looks like a cigarette started it all,” he said.