Hockey puck accident suit settled between Gunnison family and town

Everyone satisfied

Without divulging details of the settlement, an agreement has been reached between the town of Crested Butte’s insurance company and a Gunnison family whose child was struck by a hockey puck in the winter of 2008 at Big Mine Park.

Under terms of the settlement, the only public comment allowed is that “The case was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.”
The agreement had been reached last April but not officially signed off in Gunnison District Court until June 16. Any settlement will be paid by the Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA), which is Crested Butte’s insurance company.
The situation grew out of an incident on February 4, 2008, at Big Mine Ice Arena when then-16-year-old Evan Ferchau was a spectator at a high school hockey game between Crested Butte and Gunnison. A puck flew over the boards and struck Ferchau in the mouth. He lost three teeth and took an ambulance ride to Gunnison.
Since then, the town has installed a chain link fence between the ice rink and areas where spectators watch the hockey games.
When the town was put on notice that the Ferchau family intended to file a lawsuit against the town, Crested Butte town manager Susan Parker said that while the town is certainly involved, it was the insurance company that took the lead in the matter.
“CIRSA has an attorney that deals with these types of claims and CIRSA is the main negotiator with this situation,” explained Parker at the time. “But it will be up to the town to approve any settlement. For the town, we wouldn’t pay the actual settlement out-of-pocket. The insurance company will take care of that.”
After going through a mediation process, an agreement was reached, apparently to the “mutual satisfaction” of the town, the Ferchaus and the insurance company.