It’s no surprise that the lead story in this week’s Vermont Standard will be about the fire in downtown Woodstock Monday.
What may be surprising is that the local paper is publishing an issue at all. That’s because the building that burned contained the Standard’s offices.
“We’re going to publish this week," says the paper’s owner, Phillip Camp. "That’s all there is to it.”
The Vermont Standard shared videos of the fire on its Facebook page:
Camp said in its 165-year history, the Standard has been hit with three fires and two floods — most recently Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
After Irene, the paper started backing up its computers and storing the backups in a fireproof safe. That safe was recovered by firefighters this week, along with the office computers. That will help the paper recover in time to put out an issue this week.
“[It’s] better than the situation when the flood wiped us out and flushed us down the Ottaquechee River," Camp said. "We have some stuff to start with.”
The Standard has set up temporary offices at the nearby Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock. The paper is printed at a different location.
Monday’s fire also destroyed the Pi Brick Oven Trattoria, displaced a family and caused extensive smoke damage to Collective, an artisan’s gallery.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.
