Screen shot 2016-02-18 at 9.45.53 PM

[images from Stowe Today]

Stowe Vermont’s iconic Stone Hut would have turned 80 this year had it not burned down on Christmas Eve in what has been deemed an accident by Vermont state fire investigators.

CXGHRPIWYAARxul

According to Stowe Today Jake Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, had the stone hut reserved for December 24th but was not present when it burned down and neither were his son and his friends but they are the ones who caused it. George and Timothy Carpenter had gone up to summit at 1:40pm on the 23rd to stock the cabin with supplies for their upcoming stay.  The brothers and few of their friends decided to start a fire in the woodstove which they described as “really big.” The boys then placed some wet wood to dry next to the stove. Apparently they leaned some of this wet wood against the stove and heard it hissing before they left at 2:40pm.

19446982-mmmain

It wasn’t until the lifts had shut down 5 hours later that they realized the friend they thought would be staying in the cabin didn’t show up and the fire they built would be untended for the night. It was at this point that they decided not to take the 2 hour hike up to extinguish it and concluded that if there was going to be a fire, “it had already happened.”

The Stone Hut fire was discovered by a lift mechanic at 7am on December 24th. The state fire investigator believes the wet wood leaning against the stove caught fire once it dried out and spread to the rest of the cabin.

The sons and their friends are blatantly guilty of being irresponsible and careless but the fire was an accident and no criminal charges have been filed. The Carpenter family has been out of contact since the fire and are currently vacationing in Europe. Between insurance money, donations and possible state funds, those involved in the restoration are confident it will be fully rebuilt to historic specifications.

WATCH VIDEO OF THE FIRE HERE

Unofficial Networks Newsletter

Get the latest snow and mountain lifestyle news and entertainment delivered to your inbox.

Hidden
Newsletters
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.