News on the Stowe Stone Hut fire

snoloco wrote

Sue the people with deep pockets.

Son that's the most fucked up and disappointing statement you've made here in the village. If kids your age truly feel that way I'm glad I won't be around when you get to be my age.

Harvey wrote

That's some small minded prejudice PeeTex, normally you are a pretty thoughtful person.

I'm with RA on the suing thing.  First, from a cost point of view if you can get what you want without suing it's cheaper. Even if you get a new hut paid for, suing costs time and money.  I guess you can sue for legal fees too, but you never get your time back.

Second WTF?  If you can accomplish the same thing without lawyers you take an influential icon and strengthen his relationship as an ally. The other way all you have is a new hut, that you might have had anyway.

I bet a donut there has been a conversation and a plan is being worked out.

I'm pretty sure that just about any big business owner would agree that if things can be handled without lawyers getting involved in possible lengthy and ugly court battles is a much more preferred method.

I should have mentioned that my posts were based on barely any knowledge of the story, I glanced at the article briefly and even though I was under the assumption that this was a ski area cabin I wasn't going to jump to any conclusions.

Sno, we all make mistakes, maybe before we start screaming sue and burn em at the stake it's probably best to know the facts. there is a good life lesson in this silly little thread I think. I still don't know the facts but what if this was a harmless accident? We are all human kid and one day you might find yourself in a sticky situation and hopefully people are there to get your back and help you out instead of seeing a witch that needs to burn.

I hope I don't sound like a know it all jerk, high and mighty on my perch! I'm just exercising my newly developed critical thinking skills. School is cool!

I got to admit too, I barely read the article.  

I assumed it was either an understandable mistake or a stupid mistake, but not malicious.

Looks like Dunfee at TGR wrote up a little article on the story.

http://www.tetongravity.com/video/news/jake-burtons-sons-accidentally-burned-down-stowes-stone-hut

It sounds like everything is fine and it was an accident. I'm glad I didn't jump to conclusions and say silly stuff I might regret. :)

This wasn't a harmless accident.  This was outright negligence.  Anyone with half a brain knows not to leave a fire unattended, and especially not to leave wood next to a fire unless they want it to burn.  When they knew it was going to be unattended for a long time, they should've reported it, but they didn't and instead a historic building got destroyed.  Now, the people who burned it down get to pay to rebuild it.

snoloco wrote

This wasn't a harmless accident.  This was outright negligence.  Anyone with half a brain knows not to leave a fire unattended, and especially not to leave wood next to a fire unless they want it to burn.  When they knew it was going to be unattended for a long time, they should've reported it, but they didn't and instead a historic building got destroyed.  Now, the people who burned it down get to pay to rebuild it.

Oh geez......

I would hate to put myself on such a high pedestal like that, it must get stressful holding such a glorious position.

I like you kid but I feel that your lack of experience and sheltered life is making you say some silly things here.

Judging people harshly isn't behavior we should aspire to, but that's just my opinion I suppose.

Good luck with that, you are in for some brutal reality checks.

another write-up:

http://vtskiandride.com/stone-hut-carpenters-pledge/

What's a little awkward here is that the Carpenters have used this place "three times a year" for some time, and had it reserved for the Xmas week, which is, of course, a very popular time in Vermont. And yet, it's on public land, maintained by public money, but nights in the hut were given out by a lottery system. Hmmmmmmm. The Carpenters, it seems, are a very very lucky family. Very lucky.

Maybe that's why everyone was clearing their throat and making serious phone calls before the deal was final.

I gotta say that steemed odd to me too. Awfully good luck . It also struck me odd that the family hasn't had much to say publicly. The Burton spokesperson apparently said they were unreachable on vacation in Europe. Doesn't seem like great PR.

Woodstoves are left unattended all the time.  I have done this hundreds of times. You can't heat with wood without doing it.

One rumor is that the "kids" left wood leaning against the stove.  Wood "near the fire" is very different than leaving wood in contact with the stove. Not sure how anyone would know that, without the kids sharing it, and I can't imagine they would, so maybe that rumor is BS.

The Vt Ski and Ride story does make it seem like there is a lot going on behind the scenes.

Would like to see VT make the lottery legit.

Still don't see how a lawsuit helps.  

Jake Burton has just been threw an intense medical condition where he was pretty much paralyzed for three months or so and is still recovering. Which is why it is probably difficult to get in touch with the family, he is still in some very serious recovery if I am not mistaken.

Burton's headquarters are in that area and Stowe is basically their testing grounds. They will make good.

ETA- Maybe not as close as i thought in timelines, but:

http://business.transworld.net/news/jake-burton-health-update/

Lottery rules:

http://www.vtstateparks.com/pdfs/StoneHut15_16.pdf

Mentions a maximum stay of five nights, which doesn't really jive with the VT Ski and Ride article quotes.

Efilnikufesin wrote

Jake Burton has just been threw an intense medical condition where he was pretty much paralyzed for three months or so and is still recovering. Which is why it is probably difficult to get in touch with the family, he is still in some very serious recovery if I am not mistaken.

Burton's headquarters are in that area and Stowe is basically their testing grounds. They will make good.

ETA- Maybe not as close as i thought in timelines, but:

http://business.transworld.net/news/jake-burton-health-update/

No, he's fine. That was last year. He's back. Let's not lean on that crutch.

Your right, they should sue Burton into bankruptcy, then get some good ole kangaroo court lynching afterwards.

Harvey wrote

One rumor is that the "kids" left wood leaning against the stove.  Wood "near the fire" is very different than leaving wood in contact with the stove. Not sure how anyone would know that, without the kids sharing it, and I can't imagine they would, so maybe that rumor is BS.

This is closer to fact than rumor.  

http://www.skinet.com/skiing/articles/burtons-son-responsible-burning-down-stone-hut

Here's another article that spells it out. If this is all true, its the height of stupidity/ negligence. Just think about the difference between holding your hands near a woodstove to warm up and accidentally making contact with it.

Joe Cuts wrote

http://www.skinet.com/skiing/articles/burtons-son-responsible-burning-down-stone-hut

The good news, Gardner reports, is that donations have been pouring in, and Vermont’s Forest, Parks and Recreation commissioner expects the historic structure to be rebuilt.

Pouring in is a bit of an overstatement... I heard less than 5K in individual donations so far.... for a roughly 250K replacement cost.

This caught my attention:

"They learned later that night that the family friends would not be staying in the 80-year-old structure after all. Worried about the possibility of a fire, they considered hiking up to investigate, but “figured if there was a fire, it had already happened,” according to investigators."

This seems to imply that they had a pretty good idea that the way they left things was a fire hazard and were counting on someone showing up to disarm that hazard.  That is a bit hard to fathom.

That's what bugs me too ^^^^^^

plus the fact how much they get that hut. Goes back to who you know vs. what you know. I understand that.


Woodstoves are meant to be left unattended

Harvey wrote

This caught my attention:

"They learned later that night that the family friends would not be staying in the 80-year-old structure after all. Worried about the possibility of a fire, they considered hiking up to investigate, but “figured if there was a fire, it had already happened,” according to investigators."

This seems to imply that they had a pretty good idea that the way they left things was a fire hazard and were counting on someone showing up to disarm that hazard.  That is a bit hard to fathom.

That's why I said what I said about suing them.  They clearly had an idea that there was a fire hazard, but chose not to report it.  They should be paying for the full cost to rebuild it, and the lost revenue from people who had reservations that didn't get to stay there because it was burnt down.