Fire at Vermont Nuclear Plant Office Called Suspicious

BRATTLEBORO, Vt.-- A spokesman for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant says the cause of an early morning fire at its corporate office is considered suspicious.

The plant's owners and the state of Vermont have been engaged in a bruising fight over whether it should be allowed to operate beyond March. The company has sued to keep it running.

Company spokesman Larry Smith says the fire was reported at about 3 a.m. Tuesday at its building in Brattleboro. The three-story building houses the plant's communication equipment and its public and government relations offices. The reactor itself is about 7 miles south, in the town of Vernon.

Smith says no one was injured, but the building now is unusable.

Smith says the fire triggered the sprinkler system, which automatically called the fire department.