VERMONT - Police suspect arson at home of Hells Angels member

OFF THE WIRE

KEITH WHITCOMB JR., Staff Writer

BENNINGTON - Bennington police say a fire at the home of a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club at 1450 Morgan Street Friday morning is being investigated as a possible arson case.
Police Chief Paul Doucette said officers helped a woman escape the home through a window as she was not able to leave through the front door. There were no injuries reported.
Doucette said that when police arrived at the home around 4 a.m. they found two vehicles, a pickup and a sedan, engulfed in flames. The side of the home sustained damage, he said, but the Bennington Rural Fire Department was able to knock the flames down quickly and keep the fire from spreading.
According to Doucette, the building is the home Milo Campbell, a member of the Hells Angels, and his girlfriend, the woman who was rescued. Campbell was not home at the time.
Doucette said the fire was "clearly suspicious," and police are looking at possibly being a gang-related act.
He said it appears one of the vehicles had been set on fire, and a ruptured gas tank caused the flames to spread to the other vehicle then to the house. Fire investigators from the Vermont State Police have been assigned to the case as the investigation moves forward.
Bennington Rural Fire Department Chief Joseph Hayes said the house remains habitable, but both vehicles were a total loss. The fires were knocked down within 25 minutes but fire crews remained on scene for a number of hours.