Lodge fire cause still under probe
Toolbox
Published: March 5, 2010
STRATTON – Officials have not pinpointed the cause of a fire that broke out in a ski lodge a mile north of the Mount Snow resort on Route 100 late last week, but they believe it had an accidental start.
"It's not suspicious at this point," Stratton Fire Chief Mathew Underwood said Wednesday, saying because of that, a determination as to how the two-alarm fire began will be left up to the insurance company representing Triple Tree Lodging's owner, Gary Montemagni.
A cell phone call reporting a fire in one of the four furnished apartments in the lodge, which sits right on the Stratton/West Dover town line, was received by dispatchers at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
A Dover police officer was the first emergency responder to reach the scene and he reported flames were already coming through the roof of the strip-style single-story lodge, which had woodstove-style fireplaces in all four units.
Fire engines from the West and East Dover departments responded along with additional crews from Stratton, Winhall, Wardsboro, Wilmington and Whitingham, bringing the situation under control in just more than a half hour's time with no injuries.
"They did an excellent job of catching it and extinguishing it," Underwood said of the firefighting effort, adding "One unit has heavy fire damage and the others got water and smoke damage."
Underwood said the lodge can eventually be repaired, but is closed now because the water, gas, and other utilities have had to be disconnected because of the damage.
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