Fire at Abandoned Vermont Radar Base Was Arson

Investigators say a fire at an abandoned Air Force radar station on the top of a mountain in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom was arson.

The working structure fire in the radar base in East Haven was reported about 10 a.m. Monday.

Assistant Newark Chief Pat McLaughlin says a mattress and chair were set on fire in the abandoned dining hall.

The base was built by the Air Force in the 1950s, but it was abandoned in the early `60s. Over the decades the buildings at the base deteriorated.

The Caledonian Record says it took firefighters some time to find the source of the fire.

McLaughlin says the fire didn’t spread beyond the mattress and the chair.

The investigation into who started the fire is continuing.