IDAHO.- A raging fire at a base lodge at Idaho’s famed Sun Valley Resort ski area heavily damaged the building just days after the ski season ended, officials said Thursday.
Flames were shooting 30 feet (9 meters) from the roof of the resort’s Warm Springs Lodge when police arrived at the scene Wednesday night and the fire was still burning Thursday afternoon, officials said. There were no reports of injuries.
The resort held its final day of skiing last Sunday. No damage estimate was immediately available but it was difficult for firefighters to put out the fire because it got into a space between the building’s ceiling and roof, said Will Fruehling, chief deputy of the Blaine County sheriff’s office.
“I’m not a building expert, but when big portions of the roof are burned or gone or collapsed, I would find it hard to believe that it’s salvageable,” he said.
No employees were inside the building that had been closed for the season and there were no reports of injuries, said Sun Valley Resort spokeswoman Kelli Lusk. Damage was estimated at more than $1 million, said Neil Bradshaw, the mayor of the town of Ketchum where the resort is located.