Vermont Mansion Destroyed By Fire, Lightning Suspected Cause

Lightning is being blamed as the suspected cause of a fire that consumed the lakefront home of a prominent Vermont CEO on Tuesday evening in South Hero. The house is owned by Green Mountain Power CEO Mary Powell and her husband, Mark Brooks, according to a friend on the scene. The blaze was reported at about 7 p.m. in a home off Sweeney Farm Road. The two-story house is on the northwest side of Keeler Bay on Lake Champlain. Strong thunderstorms blew through the area around the time the fire began. Vermont State Police fire investigators said Wednesday that the cause is officially undetermined, "but lightning is suspected."