Large Fire Destroys Sugarbush Condominiums

A large fire destroyed the Mountainside condominium complex near Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vt. on Feb. 17.

The origin of the fire is still under investigation by local authorities, but reports indicate that the fire started just after one thirty in the morning.

According to the Vermont State Police, the Warren Fire Department arrived on the scene at 1:55 a.m. after receiving a phone call describing the growing blaze. Barking dogs sounded the initial alarm, waking their owners and alerting them to the blazing fire outside.

Working in tandem, responders and residents were able to successfully evacuate all of the buildings’ inhabitants.
The blaze was already too large to contain without assistance when the Warren Fire Department arrived. Warren Fire Chief Peter DeFreest described the blaze as the largest he had ever seen.

Auxiliary crews from the fire departments of Waitsfield, Berlin, Moretown, Stowe, and Waterbury arrived to assist their Warren colleagues battle the flames.

Firefighters had particular difficulty responding to the fire for a number of reasons.

Early efforts to contain the flames were ineffective due to a lack of water, according to Chief DeFreest.

Residents of the condominiums report that the fire alarms in the complex did not immediately go off. It is unclear whether the fire alarms were defective, improperly maintained, or otherwise compromised.

Regardless of the source of the alarms’ disfunctionality, their failure to promptly sound delayed the arrival of firefighters. This delay allowed for the fire to spread quickly through the large complex, compounding the difficulties already faced by the firefighters rushing to the scene.

Furthermore, the building did not have an internal sprinkler system in place, making the fire considerably more difficult to respond to for responders. The layout of the building impeded access to the backside of the building, limiting firefighters to a single avenue of engagement with the flames. Difficult weather conditions also made the firefight difficult.

The coalition of firefighters persisted in fighting the fire throughout much of the morning, The last of the building’s occupants were evacuated just after 3 a.m., and firefighters continue to battle the smoke and flames for hours afterwards.

The fire is the largest Warren has seen in many years. In total, 36 condominiums were destroyed before the firefighters were able to fully extinguish the inferno.

Initial damage figures also indicate that it was one of the most costly fires to hit the region. Preliminary estimates place the infrastructural toll at more than $2 million.

Sugarbush does not exclusively own or manage the Mountainside condominium complex, even though it is situated in what the resort calls ‘Sugarbush village.’ Sugarbush Resort rents out six or seven of the units in the complex, and the rest of them are privately owned.

Sugarbush hosted all of the evacuees of the Mountainside condominium  complex, including their heroic canines, in the Timber restaurant located at the base of the Sugarbush ski area. Sugarbush owner Win Smith personally arrived at the Timber restaurant at 4:30 a.m. to assist in relief efforts.

Sugarbush Resort is assisting all of the residents of the condos find somewhere else to stay, according to Sugarbush’s vice president of marketing and communications Candice White. In addition to housing Sugarbush guests and season pass holders, the Mountainside condominiums also housed a number of Sugarbush employees, further complicating the situation for Sugarbush.

Local authorities continue to investigate the cause of the fire. In the meantime, Sugarbush Resort and Waitsfield Telecom and Green Mountain Access have jointly established a website, available at www.mountainsidefire.org, that is collecting donations to assist people affected by the fire.