On April 20 at 1 a.m., students received a UVM CATAlert for a fire on Virtue Field.
A media advisory was sent at 1:17 p.m. that day pinpointing the fire at the storage sheds and that no injuries were reported.
“On the west side of Virtue Field, just on the other side of the fence, there’s a longer shed that’s about four feet deep by 20 or 25 feet long,” said Barry Simays, University fire marshal and deputy emergency manager. “It’s a wooden storage shed that typically stores athletic equipment.”
The fire began around 12:45 a.m., said senior Will Mitchell.
“I live in the Redstone Lofts, and me, my girlfriend and [my friend] were all hanging out in the living room,” Mitchell said. “And we just turned and there was a big fire right outside the window.”
While Simays did not see the fire when it started, the Burlington Fire Department and UVM Police Services initially responded to the scene, he said.
“After the fire, the physical plant administrator on call was involved and they were brought in to assist,” he said.
The physical plant performs the maintenance and upkeep on all mechanical, utilities, building systems and physical infrastructure and grounds of the University campus, according to the UVM Facilities Management page.
“Once the fire investigation was completed by the City of Burlington Fire Marshal, the property was turned back over to the University and physical plant assisted athletics with removing the remaining debris,” Simays said. “The shed that was involved in the fire was fully destroyed.”
UVM Police Services are still investigating the cause of the fire, but suspect the fire to be suspicious in nature, according to the April 20 media advisory.
“Just knowing what’s over there, it’s not like it was a gas leak and there’s nothing electrical,” Mitchell said. “I feel like it was suspicious and someone might have started it, just because it feels like there was nothing to start it on its own.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Detective Barrie North at UVM Police Services at 802-656-3473.
