DUMMERSTON — Vermont State Police are appealing to the public for information regarding a fire that was set late Monday night inside Dummerston Congregational Church in Dummerston Center.
According to state police, no one was in the church at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. Damage to the historic building, famed throughout New England as the headquarters of the annual Dummerston Apple Pie Festival, was estimated at about $25,000.
Dummerston Fire Department personnel responded to the fire at about 10:41 p.m. and immediately requested mutual aid assistance from the Putney, Brattleboro, Guilford, NewBrook, and Chesterfield, N.H. fire departments.
According to state police, the fire, which investigators say was set on the second floor of the church, was found to have been mostly extinguished by a passer-by who had seen the smoke.
The passer-by was Moe Momaney of West Dummerston, who was driving past the church with his son and spotted a fire inside.
“Went in and used [a] fire extinguisher to hold it down until the pros got there,” Momaney wrote on his Facebook page. “Thank God for Dummerston Fire Dept!”
Fire crews quickly suppressed the fire, which was mostly confined to the front of the church.
On Tuesday, the Dummerston Fire Department contacted the Vermont State Police and requested an origin and cause fire investigation. Detectives from the State Police Fire Investigation Unit arrived midmorning and determined that the fire was intentionally set.
Up to $5,000 is offered as reward for information resulting in an arrest. Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the Arson Tip Line at 800-32-ARSON or the Vermont State Police at the Rockingham Barracks, 802-875-2112.
The church has sat at the junction of East-West, Middle, and Bunker roads in Dummerston Center since 1842. Beyond the pie festival, the town uses the church basement as a polling place.