LYNDONVILLE -- Nine years after firefighter Eugene McDonough perished in a warehouse fire, his colleagues, his friends and his family still suffer the sting of not knowing how the blaze began.

The Professional Fire Fighters of Vermont is setting out yet again to try to solve the mystery, offering a reward up to $10,000 for tips about the origins of the fire.

"It killed our friend and our brother Eugene McDonough," Matt Vinci, president of the Vermont Fire Fighters Association, said Wednesday in Lyndonville at the scene of the fire that destroyed the PMI Lumber Transfer warehouse across the street from the fire station. "We have put together a new, large amount of money for information that may lead to the arrest and conviction, and lead to the conclusion of what was responsible," Vinci said.

McDonough, a member of the St. Johnsbury Fire Department, was the first line-of-duty death in the department's 165-year history, Fire Chief Troy Ruggles said.

Evidence and leads indicate that the fire, which caused $300,000 in damages, was arson, said Vermont State Police Sgt. Fred Cornell.

A group of firefighters and police investigators from across the state gathered Wednesday at the spot where, on Sept. 5, 1998, a brick wall collapsed on McDonough, 55, not long after he arrived on scene. Nine years ago, McDonough walked up to the burning warehouse and "opened its large doors to allow hose streams to reach inside the structure," according the St. Johnsbury Fire Department Web site. "As he was returning to his position, the doors closed. When he returned to open the doors, a portion of the wall above the door collapsed onto him. McDonough was pulled from the rubble but pronounced dead at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital."

Firefighter Will Rivers was injured trying to save McDonough, according to newspaper reports just after the fire. The warehouse was used to store pulp paper, which fueled the inferno.

'We were excited ...'


Tim Nolan, captain of the Lyndonville Fire Department, said he remembers when it all started. Nolan was at the station that evening and recalls seeing smoke billow from the old brick building just as the report came in.

"It was a substantial fire. I was at the fire house; it was a Friday night," Nolan said. "It was a gigantic building."

Nolan said he and his crew reported to the loading dock at the back of the warehouse where the blaze appeared to have started and immediately tried knocking back the flames. About 20 minutes later, the St. Johnsbury Fire Department rushed up to help, Nolan said. Many other fire departments from surrounding areas came, too.

Rivers later said he and McDonough were looking forward to fighting the fire, knowing no one was trapped inside and that it was just firefighter versus flames. "We were excited," Rivers said.

Minutes later, the wall fell and McDonough was gone.

News of McDonough's death spread quickly, but Nolan and other firefighters had to keep going throughout the night and beyond the next day. "It was tough. We never stopped until Sunday morning," Nolan said.

Information needed


McDonough inspired the department because he loved his work and was a "fireman's fireman," Ruggles said. McDonough built friendships with firefighters in Boston and New York, especially Brooklyn's Ladder 124, Ruggles said. McDonough would frequently visit other firehouses to go on missions with them, and often he would bring his Vermont "brothers" along.

Speaking at a memorial service for McDonough at the fifth anniversary of his death, Brooklyn firefighter John Nesbitt of New York Fire Department Ladder Company No. 124 said McDonough would usually treat them to fresh shrimp and Catamount beer he picked up along the way. .

"We have been left with pain, anger and anxiety," Ruggles said. "Any new information that may be received will only allow us to get close to closure for us and for the family."

Betsy McDonough, McDonough's only child, said she was 24 and living in Massachusetts the night her father died.

"I'm angry, my family is angry, because we lost a great person too early in life," said McDonough, now 33 and living in Monkton. She said her father -- who joined the St. Johnsbury Fire Department as a volunteer in 1979 and became a career firefighter in 1991 -- loved his job and practically lived in the firehouse. He told her he wanted to die fighting fires, but she said he went before his time.

Investigators and firefighters vowed to keep looking for answers until the case is solved.

"The most important thing is, someone out there may have information," said Detective Sgt. Fred Cornell, fire inspector for the Vermont State Police. Cornell said he could not say publicly what he already knows because he wants to take new information to evaluate it against what they have that nobody else knows.

Ruggles said he hopes the reward might attract someone to give enough information to crack the case by the 10th anniversary of McDonough's death next year.

If an arrest is made, Caledonia County State's Attorney Robert Butterfield would determine the charges. Arson with death resulting is punishable by up to life in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.