| Fire Strikes Wintergreen
Resort
April 1, 2007
Virginia - About 15 people were evacuated from the
Mountain Inn hotel at Wintergreen Resort on Saturday
afternoon when a fire broke out at a neighboring cafeteria,
causing damage estimated in the hundreds of thousands
of dollars, according to Wintergreen Fire Chief Curtis
Sheets.
No one was injured in the fire, and the cause still
is unknown, he said.
The fire originated at about 3:25 p.m. near air conditioning
and heating equipment in Pryors Porch cafeteria at
the resort, Sheets said. The cafeteria is connected
to the Mountain Inn, so about 15 people who were in
the hotel at the time were evacuated from their rooms.
Firefighters from about eight different fire departments
in the area teamed up to isolate the flames and extinguish
the blaze in about an hour, he said.
When they were through, about an inch of water remained
in the cafeteria as a reminder of the battle. Triangular
windows above the building's entrance were shattered.
And areas where walls met the roof were charred black,
inside and out. A large amount of damage was caused
to the roof by smoke, Sheets said.
"It's a lot of damage," he said, "but
it's not something that can't be repaired."
Bob Ashton, president of the resort, stood outside
of the charred building as firefighters prepared to
leave. He plans to assess the damage Monday, he said,
and make plans from there.
The building is used as a cafeteria during ski season,
Sheets said, and as meeting space during the rest
of the year. No one was inside when the fire started,
he said.
"The timing was as fortunate as a fire can be
because we just closed the ski slopes last weekend,"
he said. "It could have been worse."
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