TUESDAY NIGHT A FIRE RAGED THROUGH A BLOCK in downtown Springfield, Vermont.  The fire destroyed a major building and severely damaged another.  About 40 tenants of upper-floor apartments were left homeless.

Rutland Herald/Amanda Jean photo

Wednesday night police arrested a resident of the building and charged him with first degree arson.  John Gassert, Jr., 18, will be arraigned in District Court today.  Investigators closed in on him rapidly after interviewing other residents of the building who kept pointing him out as a suspect.  After questioning, he admitted guilt in the setting of the fire and his only motive, so far to be known, was for thrills “Kinda, sorta … yeah.”

The Rutland Herald has the complete story and a video HERE.

A vintage movie theater that is still in operation suffered a large monetary loss to the projection room and other rooms, but the auditoreum survived with only smoke damage.  The Springfield Theater gained some notoriety last year when it won a competition to host the world premiere of The Simpsons Movie.

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