Vinotok fire source of concern for neighbors and council

New location? Smaller fire? Different fire show?

By Mark Reaman

Crested Butte Town Council members and neighbors who live near the site of the Vinotok fire expressed concerns to event organizers Monday about some growing Vinotok issues.

Those organizers say they want to collaboratively work to address the concerns but don’t want to compromise the event itself.

The three primary issues seem to revolve around the size and location of the fire, the amount of alcohol consumption and size of the crowd, and the restroom situation.

Neighbor Cathy Steinberger has long expressed concern about the September fire that blazes at the climax of the Saturday night event at the Four-way Stop parking lot by the Visitor’s Center. Recapping a letter she sent to the council, she said Vinotok has gotten so big and wild that the Four-way is no longer an appropriate location for the fire.

“There is so much impact to the neighborhood,” Steinberger said. “There is the smoke, the ash, and the crowd. It’s an R1-C zone so there are a lot of old houses nearby. It just doesn’t feel safe anymore. There were embers on my deck last year. My lawn furniture has burn holes. It’s not a family event. In the early days it had a different feel. No one should have to deal with this.”

Crested Butte chief marshal Tom Martin said the fire, alcohol and restrooms are discussion items at every Vinotok debriefing. But he gave kudos to the organizers for trying to keep all three in check and doing what the town asked.

“Historically, the fire has probably gotten smaller and more manageable, compared to some of the years,” Martin said. “The marshals appreciate that it is a community event but from a safety point of view, it is clearly not a good location for the fire. So we would support a change of venue. Embers float hundreds of feet in the air. The chamber building is hot to the touch. Those 20 minutes after the fire is lit are pretty stressful. I’m worried the whole time.”

Martin told a couple of stories about how visiting law enforcement officers witnessing the spectacle simply couldn’t believe it was allowed.

“Vinotok always has a high alcohol factor but also other hallucinogenic factors as well,” Martin said. “We had issues with Big Air on Elk and had a risk management consultant hired to suggest some modification. That might be worthwhile here.”

Crested Butte Fire Protection District fire chief Ric Ems agreed. “The proponents have done a good job with some of the issues. But when the fire first goes up, we have troops on the ground patrolling the area looking for embers to make sure nothing is ignited. It is an excessive stretch of our firefighters. You are messing with fire, so sooner or later someone is going to get burned.”

“The concerns have been voiced for 20 years,” added interim town manager Bill Crank. “The concern about the fire size is very valid if furniture and decks are getting scorched.”

“Any of the homeowners there have legitimate concerns,” concurred mayor Glenn Michel.

“There’s also the size of the crowd,” said neighbor Martin Catmur. “People are everywhere and doing things like peeing on people’s lawns.”

Vinotok organizer Kat Harrington said Vinotok is planning on having up to 20 port-a-potties on the scene this year and she said the event purchases a million-dollar insurance policy.

“Based on the price, that’s worth about a house or maybe half a house,” said Crank. “With the town allowing the event, people will quickly look to the town if something bad happens.”

Screen the embers or move the fire?

Councilman Jim Schmidt asked if there was a screening device that could control embers coming from the bonfire. He said he’s heard of a few new location suggestions including near the Gronk or on the island in Peanut Lake. “But the Gronk is located on a bunch of coal so that’s probably not a good idea,” he noted.

“The fire is certainly spectacular but if the size comes down a lot—say a third the size—would the organizers be okay?” asked Martin. He suggested “using the fire more as a symbol.”

Vinotok founder Marcie Telander said probably not, saying, “Vinotok is an iconic Crested Butte event.”

She said the elders of the community relayed to her that a similar ceremony was held once a year in Crested Butte when the coal mines were open. Workers could march effigies of the bosses and hang or burn them with no ramifications at the Elk Mountain Lodge. “They felt it was one of the most important statements that held the community together,” she told the council. “The charge to continue that came from at least 25 of the old miners and old ranchers. I feel very strongly about this.

“We’ve done small fires and the businesses get upset,” Telander continued. “And remember, this is a free event. So more costly insurance is hard. The people working on this have three decades of experience. To cut the fire significantly means it doesn’t exist anymore.”

“The town respects the history,” said Michel. “Our concern is liability. We don’t want to put the town or the residents at risk.”

“Because it is iconic to Crested Butte, like naked skiing or backcountry skiing, it holds a part of the community imagination,” said Telander. “We’ve discussed this over and over and over again and the size of the fire has changed many times. There’s been a consistent art form that’s created this over the many decades. I think we can find collaboration creatively. But when we hear we need more insurance and less fire, then maybe this isn’t the best community to do this in.”

Harrington said using the gravel pit area for the fire came with problems. “Getting people in and out of there would be hard,” she said. “The grass fields make me nervous. It might impact more neighborhoods.”

Town public works director Rodney Due said he needed word from the council whether to design a planned paving project at the Four-way parking lot with firebricks that would accommodate the fire. “Asphalt and heat don’t get along at all,” he said. “So I need to know what you want to do there.”

“I’m concerned for the property owners around the fire,” said councilwoman Laura Mitchell. “The fire always gets small for a time after these discussions and then gets big again. There are other issues like the barf that doesn’t get cleaned up and the toilet situation. Some of these are disrespectful to the community. I think it is too big there and needs to go to the gravel pit or somewhere else.”

Telander said she was open to the Peanut Lake island idea since only authorized people would be able to get there and it was walkable.

Schmidt said that property was likely owned by a private citizen from Trapper’s Crossing.

Gas fire?

Crank suggested organizers look into using professional pyro technicians that do impressive gas fire shows at concerts or in stadiums.

“That misses the point of burning the Grumps away,” said Harrington.

“The town has changed quite a bit,” said councilman Paul Merck. “[The fire] might have to be relocated. I certainly don’t want the event to leave town.”

“So council is saying new location or smaller fire?” asked Michel.

“The other option is to mitigate the fire danger more,” said councilman Chris Ladoulis. “Figure out how and the cost to mitigate the risk. Maybe that means bringing in people from other fire departments to help.”

“It is an iconic part of Crested Butte,” added councilman Roland Mason. “Location is important. Peanut Lake might be an interesting change. The gravel pit doesn’t feel like a fit. I don’t have a solution but I like the idea of somehow mitigating the fire without cutting the size by two-thirds.”

Schmidt asked the organizers to explore Crank’s professional pyrotechnic idea. “It is something worth exploring if you want to keep it at the Four-way,” he said. He also said he thought the trial play went on too long and might contribute to the amount of alcohol consumption.

“No one up here has an issue with Vinotok. It is with the fire,” said Ladoulis. “Let’s put our attention on the fire and mitigate the issue. What does the fire department need to do to make it safe?”

“We are doing what we can do,” responded Ems. “We foam the hillside. We have people patrolling the areas. You never know how far the embers are flying.”

Assistant chief marshal Mike Reily said perhaps there was an engineer somewhere who would design a safe fire and stamp the design.

“I love Vinotok and don’t want to be in a spot to turn down the special event application,” said Schmidt. “Let’s investigate the options.”

“I hope you are hearing that everyone loves Vinotok but there are concerns and we want to minimize the risks,” concluded Michel. “So take the comments and come back with the application. It sounds like this discussion will be continued and there is a lot of work to do.”

The Vinotok fire is slated to take place September 24.