HARTFORD — Authorities worked Thursday morning to extract a body discovered following a car fire at the Hartford Point Cemetery the previous day.
Hartford Police and Hartford Fire and EMS responded on the afternoon of Sep. 9 to a car fire at 807 Maple Street, where a vehicle had been actively burning on cemetery property.
Investigators from the Department of Public Safety Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit also responded, though Hartford Police are the primary investigating agency, according to Vermont State Police spokesman Adam Silverman.
The department investigates fires that may be suspicious in origin— meaning not accidental or electrical— said Lt. William Furnari of the department’s community outreach division.
Furnari declined to comment Thursday morning on whether there was a victim in the fire, but confirmed that a representative from Vermont’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which conducts death investigations, was at the scene.
Asked whether the situation is being investigated as a suspicious death, homicide or suicide, Furnari said he would not put any of those labels on it.
“I could not characterize this investigation as any of those things based on where we are right now,” Furnari said.
At the scene Thursday, Hartford Police Cpl. Simon Keeling confirmed crews were extracting a body, but declined to provide additional information.
Personnel in hazmat suits assisted Hartford police and fire officials at the cemetery– located between Interstate 91 and the Shady Lawn Motel– as of 10 a.m. Thursday.
Cemetery Sexton Ken Parker, who also serves as the cemetery’s president, arrived Wednesday as emergency responders were extinguishing the fire, he said.
“There were people that were obviously there to examine the vehicle and whatever — or whoever — was inside the vehicle,” Parker said Thursday by phone.
While Parker observed the situation from afar on one of the cemetery roadways, he said he had reason to believe the fire was connected to a fatality.
“It became obvious that there was someone in the vehicle, as different personnel came and huddled around the vehicle,” said Parker, who specified that he did not see a body firsthand.
He said the previously red subcompact car was “totally burned out,” with only a small spot where the paint remained.”
“This wasn’t a small fire. This was an all-consuming, engulfing fire,” Parker said.
Police are still in the early stages of the investigation. Furnari confirmed a vehicle owner has been identified, but said further details were not yet available.
Hartford Police, assisted by Vermont State Police, continue to investigate “all circumstances” surrounding the incident, said Furnari.
Parker said the situation is highly unusual.
“People who visit the cemetery have no reason to be fearful,” he said.
