The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Overall it was a pretty good event”
Despite one of the largest bonfires in the 24-year history of Vinotok, everything seemed to come off pretty smoothly for the autumn celebration.
Vinotok is a uniquely Crested Butte weeklong tradition ringing in the coming of fall that culminates with the burning of the “Grump” in a huge bonfire at the Four-way Stop.
“Next year, the fire cannot possibly be as big as it was Saturday,” said Crested Butte Chief Marshal Tom Martin. “There was a point at its peak when I thought about asking the Fire Department to put it out.”
During the bonfire setup, it appeared the wood was stacked in a 30- to 40-foot diameter. About a half hour after it was lit, Martin said he watched as thousands of embers were carried into the air with six- to eight-mile-per-hour winds. He felt the blaze presented a danger to most structures anywhere near the fire.
“Next year, eight to 12 feet in diameter might be more appropriate,” Martin said.
Event organizers Theresa Henry and Denise Reinert said overall the celebration was good. “The fire was so big because the Grump was so large this year,” quipped Henry. “We heard that that it might have to be smaller next year and we understand. This year, everyone seemed to have a good time and everyone pulled it together. We are supposed to meet with the marshals later this week to recap the event, but for the most part everyone seemed to know what they had to do to make it work, and it worked.”
Reinert agreed. “For us around the fire, the people seemed pretty well behaved and calm. There were no major incidents that we know of during the event, although we heard it was somewhat loud late Saturday and early Sunday.”
Reinert said she had a brief conversation with Martin and they will be determining the proper diameter for next year’s fire ring. “All the volunteers did a great job this year,” she said. “The fire was out by about 11:30 and Vinotok was a fun time.”
Martin confirmed that the Vinotok events went well and the organizers did a good job of keeping people engaged and in control.
The after-midnight crowd was a different story. “The energy in the town until about midnight was upbeat,” he said. “But from about midnight to 4 a.m. it was somewhat disgusting. There were lots of drunks and not a lot of respect for who we are as a town. It had the feel of a bad college town.”
The marshals are investigating a possible sexual assault that took place about 1 o’clock Sunday morning. No other details of the incident have been released.
Mt. Crested Butte Police Chief Hank Smith said his officers were on hand to help if needed. He also said that the bonfire was one of the biggest fires he had ever seen. He said one of his officers noticed a huge after-party at the Oh-Be-Joyful campground up the Slate River Valley but no incidents were cited. “The campground was full and there was a lot going on, but we didn’t need to respond to anything,” he said.
Town officials will meet later this week with the Vinotok organizers to see how to improve the 2010 event.
