BY TAYLOR SLONAKER/VTDIGGER
A staple of the Castleton community, the Gilmore Home Center building supplies and hardware store burned down Jan. 15. The hardware store, located along Route 4A, was a go-to for contractors and residents alike.
Town Manager Michael Jones, who’s also a volunteer firefighter, was second to report on the scene. He said the call came in as a car fire around 11 a.m., but when he got there he saw smoke coming from the eaves of the building.
The fire was hot, and a dozen fire departments from the surrounding area turned out to help fight the blaze. Heath Goyette, Castleton’s fire chief, said it took a little over seven hours to extinguish the fire.
SCOTT LARSON, OWNER of the Gilmore Home Center, holds the building’s weathervane, which was salvaged after the fire. Photo by Mark Flynn
Residents mobilized to deliver beverages and food to the firefighters all day. The American Legion, across the street from the hardware store, set up a warming station.
Suppressing the fire wasn’t the only goal of the day, however. Employees of the hardware center approached Goyette to ask for help in reaching the prized weathervane that perched on top of the store. West Rutland’s ladder truck was able to reach it and one of its firefighters brought it down.
The copper and brass weathervane, made by John Finley, sat atop the store for about 30 years.
“So it was just pretty darn cool that a.), it survived with all that heat right behind it, and then b.), that they were willing to go up and save a piece of history for us,” said Mark Flynn, Gilmore’s business manager.
In the aftermath of the fire, Flynn said the outpouring of support from the community has been amazing.
