Marble Mountain Sno Park Warming Hut Fire

The warming hut at the Marble Mountain Sno Park burned to the ground on the morning of Sat April 9. We arrived at approximately 6:30am to see the structure fully ablaze. By the time we returned to the parking lot later that afternoon, it had completely burned to the ground.

We spoke with Forest Service law enforcement, who were initiating an investigation but no word yet as to cause.

I'm a long-time reader but first time poster; I thought folks in the TAY community may find this info useful.

Photos of the fire are here: picasaweb.google.com/eric.thoreson/Marbl...Fire?feat=directlink

Thanks for the post, Eric, and good photos. That really sucks, it was a very nice shelter.

Some info about the shelter:

Marble Mountain Warming Shelter, Washington

Description: 2,700 feet (850 meters). Holds up to 100 people, with a 120-car parking lot. Shelter is wheelchair accessible. Modern structure completed in 1990. Centerpiece of the Marble Mountain Sno-park. 30 x 30 foot log shelter. 4 picnic tables, wood stove, wood room, composting toilets.

Here's the shelter as it looked in January 2009:



The wooden elements appeared to be well-protected from the stove in the middle:



And one of your photos of the shelter ablaze:

That is a real tragedy.

Bummer. That was a heck of a hut.

Oh my goodness, that is terrible..it was such a fine and practical structure....

The fire finally made the news today (barely, it's only a blog post):
blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure/2011/0...-at-mount-st-helens/

Fire destroys Marble Mountain Sno-Park shelter at Mount St. Helens
Posted by Craig Hill on April 11, 2011 at 1:13 PM

From Gifford Pinchot National Forest:

The warming shelter at Marble Mountain Sno-Park burned to the ground early Saturday morning. The log structure was about 20 years old. The shelter was popular with snow-machine enthusiasts and other winter recreationists exploring that area of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

Mount St. Helens Recreation Technician Randy Peterson said he arrived just in time to see the flame-engulfed structure collapse around 7 a.m. He said the shelter is a total loss. The cause is unknown and is now under investigation.

“Fortunately, no one was hurt,” Peterson said. “This was one of the nicest snow shelters in the state. It is a big loss to the Forest and local communities.”

The facility was constructed through a partnership with the State of Washington, snowmobile clubs, local businesses and the Forest Service.

Mount St. Helens personnel have cordoned off the remains of the shelter and it is still smoldering, reported Peterson. Mable Mt. Sno-Park is open. Visitors are asked to stay back from the fire location.

I could find no info or news release on the GPNF website (either the old site or the new site ).

Update: That news release was just posted on the new website, within the last few minutes.