A hay truck caught fire in the middle of Stowe late Tuesday morning, sending smoke and flames high into the air in the town’s central business district.
No serious injuries were reported. As of late Tuesday afternoon, officials were still assessing potential damage to businesses and the nearby historic Harrison Building, located on the corner of routes 100 and 108.
Town Manager Charles Safford said he was in the town hall Tuesday morning, not too far from where the fire broke out, and was talking in his office with the town’s public works director.
“All of a sudden we heard a boom,” he said. “We thought it was snow falling off the roof but louder than usual and then I started smelling some smoke.”
Safford said he walked to the front door and learned that a hay truck was on fire just down the street. He said he learned that a wheel blew on the truck and a spark set the hay on fire.
Kerry Rosenthal and her partner Eric Fritz had come to Stowe to ski and had stopped at a cafe on Main Street when Rosenthal said Fritz spotted the fire around 10:10 a.m.
“We were all sitting there and all of sudden Eric jumped up and ran out the door,” Rosenthal said.
She said she heard several explosions from the fire.
Safford praised the quick work of the town’s police and fire department in putting out the fire and rerouting traffic. He added that the situation could have been worse had the firefighters not arrived so quickly.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Charles Safford’s last name.