Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said this week that he has eliminated lightning as the possible cause of a fire that destroyed a vacant 1908 mansion at 20 Castle Hill Road on May 25, meaning that someone intentionally set the fire, which required seven fire companies to extinguish it.

Mr Halstead said June 1 that he received a meteorological report on May 31 indicating that there had been no lighting strikes near the house that could have started such a fire.

The nearest lightning strike in town had occurred about 4:30 pm on May 24, in the Equestrian Ridge area, about five miles away from the fire scene, he said.

Mr Halstead said that although he initially suspected that the fire had been set based on the evidence, he needed to review the lightning report to eliminate lightning as a possible cause of the blaze.

Police Detective Jason Frank, who is a deputy fire marshal, is assisting the fire marshal in the fire investigation. Det Frank is conducting interviews.

The house fire was reported to the town dispatch center at about 1:50 am on May 25 by an observer positioned at a distant vantage point who had spotted an orange glow on the hilly terrain in the Castle Hill Road area.

After the fire was brought under control, the mansion was demolished to allow firefighters to completely extinguish the smoldering ruins.

The destroyed house is located at a 66-acre site owned by Castle Hill Real Estate Holdings, LLC. The property has a second building, also constructed in 1908, that was not affected by the fire. There were no injuries.

Volunteer firefighters from Newtown Hook & Ladder, Sandy Hook, Dodgingtown, Botsford, Hawleyville, Stony Hill, and Stevenson responded to the fire. Brookfield and Bethel firefighters provided coverage at fire stations in Newtown.