TUNBRIDGE — Authorities say a mobile home on Gage Road was destroyed by fire late Sunday afternoon.
The first firefighters on the scene after being called to 920 Gage Road around 4:25 p.m. found a “fully engulfed structure,” according to a Facebook post from the Bethel Fire Department, one of five fire departments involved in the mutual aid call.
“There was one section of the home that hadn’t collapsed. Units made entry to conduct a primary search with nothing found. Crews then moved and started overhaul of the collapsed section of home,” the post said.
Tunbridge Fire Chief Simon Bradford said he was the second or third firefighter on the scene and found the property in flames.
“We do not know the cause of the fire. It’s undetermined at this point,” Bradford said.
Vermont State Police spokesman Adam Silverman said his agency has been asked to help investigate the cause and origin of the fire.
The 2.6-acre property owned by Gardner Moses, of Tunbridge, is assessed at $30,400. Chuck Moses, a relative of Gardner, lives in the home, according to town officials.
The Tunbridge mobile home near the Bethel and Royalton town lines is the site where Jeremy Potwin, 39, was shot and killed during an armed standoff with Vermont State Police in May.
Police had outstanding arrest warrants for Potwin at the time, and he was also wanted for questioning in some other cases, including three arson cases in Tunbridge, among them a fire that destroyed a neighboring vacant home and garage on Gage Road on April 23.
Potwin lived nearby at 896 Gage Hill.
Police at the time of the shooting said Potwin was trying to leave the home with a female hostage.
But that woman, Calen Vaine, later told the Valley News that she was acting as a willing shield to try to help Potwin leave the property. Vaine said she and Potwin were dating and had spent more than eight hours in her bedroom inside 920 Gage Road, where she lived with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, before the shooting took place.
The 21-year-old Vaine was arrested Friday night on an outstanding warrant from Barre, City, Vt., after troopers responded to a caller in Pomfret who said Vaine would not leave the property.
Vaine is being held at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., on $10,000 cash or surety bail. She is being held on a burglary charge and unlawful mischief charge, according to jail officials.
News staff writer Jordan Cuddemi contributed to this report. John Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.