This file photo shows the Putney General Store before it was consumed by fire. Photo: AP file photo

By SUSAN SMALLHEER Rutland HErald STAFF

PUTNEY — It could be a month before the exact cause of the fire that leveled the Putney General Store and heavily damaged the neighboring building on Kimball Hill is known, both property owners said Thursday.

As investigators from their two respective insurance companies did their own perusal of the property, Lyssa Papazian of the Putney Historical Society, which owned the store, and Neil Madow, owner of the building that housed Sojourns, a jewelry store, and three apartments, watched the process.

"They will probably blame each other," they joked, adding some levity to what's been a grim week.

Meanwhile, Putney residents have organized a candlelight vigil for Friday evening in the downtown village area, according to Rep. Michael Mrowicki, a Putney Democrat and administrator of Putney Family Services.

Mrowicki said after the candlelight vigil, people will gather at the Putney United Church just up the road from the fire scene, for coffee and conversation.

"It's almost like a wake," he said, noting that people have taken the fire very personally as a blow to their sense of community. "They need to grieve and they need to be together as a community."

The general store was "more than a store," in the words of more than one resident. It was at the heart of the village, if not the community, a place where people could get coffee and gab, or buy a six-pack of beer or a pound of nails rather than run to Brattleboro.

The store was heavily damaged in a May 2008 fire, but plans were well under way to reopen it by May 2010 at the time of this week's fire.

Thursday afternoon the two insurance investigators seemed to pay the most attention to the northwest corner of the general store, where it joined the Sojourns building, where a handful of orange traffic cones had been placed.

While the fire is considered suspicious, Papazian and Madow said it was premature to label the fire as arson since the investigation is continuing.

"They are conducting interviews today," Papazian said of the Vermont State Police fire investigators.

Putney Fire Chief Tom Goddard, who has been assisting with the investigation, declined to comment on the investigation. The first call about the fire came in about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and firefighters were on the scene within six minutes. But an hour later, the general store had collapsed into its basement.

By Thursday afternoon, the stone basement was cleaned out and there were several piles of heavily charred timbers on the sidewalk outside the store.

Papazian said that a fence would have to be erected around the store's basement to keep people out, or that the historical society would have to arrange for security.

Madow said it still wasn't known how severe the damage was to his building, which on the outside looked more or less intact.

"It's far worse inside," he said.

Mrowicki said he was working with the people who lost their homes in the fire.

Mrowicki said there was one bright spot in Thursday's developments.

John Mozley, a teacher at the Kurn Hattin School, got into his apartment and found his two guitars, relatively unscathed, still in their guitar cases.

"It's his birthday and that was a nice present," Mrowicki said.

susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com