I went into work this morning...beautiful morning...It was approximately 45 minutes after I opened the door that I got my first customers...and I am thanking GOD ...profusely... for them...on this day...I was fulfilling their order when ..there was an explosion...and then one of them yelled... FIRE! RUN! EVERYONE GET OUT! IT'S a BIG ONE!
The stairway up to my bar was engulfed in flames as a result of an explosion on the first floor of the lodge and not 3 minutes later, ...the whole 2500 square foot game room next to my bar was in the same condition...the smoke was so dense you could hardly see...I went back thru the kitchen to retrieve my coat ( I just got it...black wool girly pea coat, it was so worth retrieving!) and came back out of the kitchen...I couldn't see so I hunched over and ran to the end of the bar and got my purse...when I stood up, I couldn't see anything and the smoke was burning my chest and lungs profusely...I thought about going thru the balcony door and jumping but it was too far across and the balcony door was in the game room...
I really couldn't tell you what happened next, I just remember someone pushing me down a stairwell and getting my keys stuck in the railing...he wanted me to drop my new purse! Not happening buster! afterall, it had an L on it...and it cost me 25cents at the thrift store!
I ran..with these customers...thru the main lodge where the explosion happened and into the lobby...there were tons of people in there...I started yelling fire...get out...you have to go now...leave your ski's! and they wouldn't...I am thinking they thought about their ski's how I felt about my coat and purse...they did run out, however, when they saw what was coming behind me...I also ran down another set of stairs and into the rental office...there were adults and children and employees in there too, totally unaware of what was behind me...
I was still yelling....OUT! OUT! FIRE! FIRE! and these people were looking at me like I was a nut...
When I got out the main doors of the rental place, I ran back into the lodge and took a last look around for people...there wasn't anyone in there...so I ran down the stairs again... I started helping my employers with their belongings and the items they were carrying...paychecks...computers...purses, shoes...and helped them to get to their cars...then I helped the maintenance guy with the items he was carrying and examined his arms..they were burned pretty good...and then I remembered...my Tahoe was parked directly in front of the Snowflake Bar where I was working...I started running...I got half way there...and BOOM! my boss' car exploded...it was parked right next to the building and and had been swallowed by flames...it looked like a big ball of fire..15 feet away from mine....I ducked...when I got up, I started running again and got to my Tahoe...the metal was hot to the touch and I was afraid to start it...but I did...and I went as fast as I could...in reverse...spun a cookie...and roared off to the parking lot across the street...that's when the shaking started...if it hadn't been for the man that stayed to make sure I could find my way down the back stairs...I would have been trapped up there...with a choice to break and go out a second story window or brave the game room door...that door is really hard for me to open and get closed, I NEVER unlock it unless it is mandatory...but today...it bugged me til I went and unlocked it...think someone was trying to tell me something? The chimney sticking up in the video? that is where I was...it took less than 8 minutes for the fire to completely encompass the entire South end of that building...which is about 20,000 square feet...
Louis Gheller built this resort over 60 years ago...it has been a landmark and a source of revenue for my town ever since...it was sold off and divided in the last couple of years...and the new owners were trying to make the best of everything for their customers...Louis' Granddaughter is the only Gheller that still works there...she was standing in the middle of the road...sobbing...she was utterly devastated at the loss of her GrandDad's hard work...the grief that was on her face...the sobbing... and the fact that she was walking back and forth, with cars going every which way around her...haunts me...
It was a devastating day...not just the danger...but the loss of a heritage...I will miss it very much...
I am now unemployed...which will be the tale of many after today...in the UP...
Thank you so much for listening...I needed to get that off my chest and work thru the details...
