howardwhite 6 #1 October 11, 2007 Many of you read here about the fire at Vermont Skydiving Adventures. Terri and Ole have asked that this message be posted here: ----- Dear Friends, Family and Fellow Skydivers, On behalf of Vermont Skydiving Adventures, Inc., Ole and I would like to thank everyone who helped keep Vermont Skydiving Adventures, Inc. (VSA) running during this challenging time. For those who are not aware, on September 24th at approximately 8:30 pm, the rigging trailer at VSA burned to the ground. In the trailer were numerous parachute systems including student and tandem gear, various rigging tools, supplies and equipment; and most unfortunately a number of personal rigs stored at the dz by friends. The opposite end of the trailer was our video room and pilot lounge. All our video equipment, including camera helmets, and friends’ video equipment were lost. Various plane parts, including the keys to our Cessnas were also lost in the fire. So that’s the bad part. The good part is that no one was hurt. Everyone had left the premises when the fire started and no one made it back to the fire in time to play “hero” and get injured. We are truly grateful that it was only “stuff” that we lost and no lives. The cause of the fire has been listed as “unknown” but not of malice. We can only speculate since there was nothing left to investigate. We would like to extend a special thank you to all our skydiving friends who have called, emailed, sent money and came out to the dz over the past week to help us clean up. J&M Aviation was at the scene almost immediately and brought the aircraft up to speed with new keys. We especially want to thank Orange Skydiving Center (Jumptown) and Mohawk Valley. Gary Pond and Brian Grady flew up from Orange the Friday after the fire and brought 7 sets of equipment for us to use in order to keep us in business. Jimmy Stahl from Mohawk Valley lent us an entire video system so we would be able to continue to offer video to our students for the rest of the season. They also offered to lend us student and tandem gear. We realize there were many people whom we have not named helping out behind the scenes to keep VSA in business. VSA staff and jumpers are an example to the skydiving community in their call to action; donating time, equipment and energy to get VSA back on her feet. This message would not be complete without thanking the West Addison Fire Department for their prompt response to the fire. They were at the scene within minutes. Had it been longer, we might have lost our aircraft as well. Please know that we are truly grateful to all of you. We feel very blessed to be a part of the skydiving community. Thank you, Terri Mayer, Owner, Vermont Skydiving Adventures, Inc. D-13108 Ole Thomsen Owner, Vermont Skydiving Adventures, Inc. D-10429 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
