Body found after fire in Winooski commercial building

The remains of a person have been found in a Winooski building damaged by fire Wednesday night, fire officials say.

The Winooski Fire Department and firefighters from several other agencies responded to a building on fire on West Spring Street around 10:26 p.m. The commercial building houses 30 storage units, the fire department stated in a news release. Winooski Fire Chief John Audy said there is no residential component to the building.

After the fire was extinguished and daylight came, authorities were able to get inside the building and the body was discovered, the department said. Audy said he is not aware of anyone else coming out of the building when fire officials first arrived on scene.

A joint investigation by the Winooski fire and police departments and the Vermont State Fire Investigation Unit is being conducted to determine the cause and origin of the fire and to positively identify the person found. The person's body has been transported to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office.

Audy declined to comment on whether the fire is being considered suspicious, citing the ongoing investigation. He said the building sustained in excess of $100,000 in damage.

The second-alarm fire also drew units from Colchester Center, St. Michael's College, Malletts Bay, Burlington, and the Vermont Air National Guard. Essex and Milton fire departments provided station coverage while crews on the scene fought the fire for several hours.

Cold weather and heavy fire and smoke conditions mixed to create a difficult blaze to get under control, Audy said. He said members of the American Red Cross of New Hampshire and Vermont also responded to provide first responders with hot liquids.

"It certainly was not easy," Audy said. "It was negative 1 (degree) and we had a pretty good heavy wind, so it's hard on the people, it's hard on the equipment."

Audy said more information about the investigation would be released when it becomes available.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP.