RANDOLPH, Vt. (WCAX) – Neighbors are being credited with helping to crack an arson investigation in Randolph.
Only a charred structure still stands on Dudley Street after a fire Saturday night that investigators say was intentionally set.
“The first thing I saw was a flickering orange light,” said Deb Tucker, who lives across the street. When Tucker looked out her picture window Saturday night, she knew something was wrong. She saw a man holding what appeared to be a flame in front of the house. Tucker called the police and moments later, the house was on fire. “By the time I actually got 911 back on the phone, there were flames visible shooting up that side of the house.”
Clair Sherman, 40, pleaded not guilty on Monday to arson charges. Police say another witness, who also called 911, identified Sherman as the man who lit the fire. Sherman lives right around the corner, where he was taken into custody. Police have not released a motive.
“The neighbors saw something and they reported it and they called it in,” said Randolph Police Chief Scott Clouatre. He says officers were out on a different call at the time of the fire.
The Vermont State Police are leading the investigation but authorities say community awareness helped crack the case. “That actually works. You see something, say something. And that is what brings communities together and we can start knocking out these crime waves,” Clouatre said.
Tucker says she has seen Sherman walk by her house in the past. “I don’t know Clair well but I never saw him as that kind of person,” she said. She says she is grateful to firefighters that no other homes in the tight-knit neighborhood were damaged. “They worked for about four hours. People went in and out without oxygen masks and I just couldn’t have been more impressed.”
Neighbors say the home hasn’t been lived in for quite some time and no injuries were reported. Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the Vermont State Police.
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