EAST DUMMERSTON-A three-alarm fire on Aug. 16 has destroyed a Windham County agricultural landmark.
A building that housed the farm stand, cold storage, and maple sugaring operation at Dwight Miller Orchards on Miller Road was leveled in the Saturday afternoon fire.
"The packing house building was home to our cold storage and produce coolers, our cider press and apple packing facilities, our retail area, our maple evaporator and sugaring equipment," the family posted on the farm's website in a message that also thanked firefighters for risking their safety to contain the inferno.
"Many family heirlooms and antiques adorned the walls and were used in daily business," the Millers wrote. "It is all completely gone in a devastating loss. We will share updates as we are able."
West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department Chief Larry Pratt Jr. said Sunday morning that 15 area departments responded to the fire, which was reported at 3:34 p.m. While the West Dummerston fire crews were on their way, the Putney Fire Department reported seeing a large column of smoke from their station, and a second alarm was struck, Pratt said.
By the time his firefighters arrived, a third alarm was struck as crews from other towns rushed to the scene.
Pratt said the building was "fully involved" when his crews arrived, and the effort quickly shifted from saving the building to preventing the fire from igniting brush fires.
"We used about 124,000 gallons of water," he said. "Given the location of the fire, we needed extra tankers to bring in water. There were some small brush fires, but they were brought under control."
Pratt said no one was in the building at time of the fire, and, with the exception of one firefighter who suffered a minor finger injury, the firefighting crews were unharmed.
Most of the fire crews dispatched to the fire departed by midnight, aside from a West Dummerston team that kept an overnight watch over the fire scene.
On Sunday morning, the West Dummerston firefighters were still there, joined by a cleanup crew dealing with toxins from diesel fuel storage.
"This is going to be a multi-day cleanup," said Pratt.
Fire investigators from the Vermont State Police are still searching for a cause for the fire.
In a social media post on Sunday, the Miller family expressed gratitude that "everyone is safe."
"We extend our deep appreciation to all the firefighters and responders for their aid and service during our hour of need," they wrote. "Thank you, as well, to the farmers and community members who have checked in or reached out with offers of help. We are collecting ourselves as a family during this overwhelming time of loss, but we know also that we're very fortunate. Thank you all!"
Historic orchard
Dwight Miller Orchards is an eighth-generation family farm producing apples, peaches, blueberries, maple sugar, and honey, with pick-your-own apples and blueberries in season.
A fruit farm since the mid-1800s, Read and Malah Miller currently run the apple orchard, which was started by his grandfather Dwight Miller in the 1920s and grew under the stewardship of Read's father, Dwight Miller Sr.
The orchard has been certified organic since 1996. Besides the pick-you-own operation, the farm produces organic apple cider and apple vinegar and operated a small farm stand selling their harvest.
Help for the family
Post Oil Solutions, which organizes the Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market, has created a GoFundMe fundraising campaign on Aug, 17 on behalf of the Miller family.
"Dwight Miller Orchards has been a dedicated and much loved member of both the Brattleboro Area Farmers Market in the summer and the Brattleboro Winter Farmers' Market from the very beginning," wrote Sherry Maher, the nonprofit's community organizer, in the GoFundMe appeal.
"And the Miller family has been farming on the same land longer than Vermont has been a state," her appeal continued.
The communities of the Brattleboro Farmers' Market, which operates in the warmer months, and the Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market, organized in the winter months, "are collaborating to spread the word on behalf of Dwight Miller Orchards with this campaign," Maher wrote.
Nearly $4,000 was raised in the first three hours of the campaign, which met the initial $5,000 goal a short time later. A new goal of $25,000 was set Monday morning, and that was surpassed by late afternoon. The fund stood at more than $35,000 by mid-morning on Tuesday.
Contributions are being accepted at gofundme.com/f/dwight-miller-orchards-fire-recovery.
This News item by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.