Firefighters have come down the mountain

By Peninsula Daily News

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The 70-year-old Hurricane Ridge lodge has burned to the ground.

Chief Jake Patterson of Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue said at 8 p.m. Sunday that his department and the Port Angeles Fire Department had finished fighting the blaze and that the Ridge’s visitor center was completely destroyed.

His department was called to the fire at 4:39 p.m. Sunday, Patterson said.

The lodge was fine when a ranger went up to the ridge at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday, so it is not known when the fire started, said Lee Snook, acting public information officer for Olympic National Park.

The lodge has been undergoing rehabilitation with the area closed since March 27 and reopening planned May 25. Contractors have been on site but were not working this weekend, Snook said.

Interim Chief Dan Orr with Clallam County Fire District 3 said his department was called to assist at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, but later the department’s water tender, which was on its way up the 17-mile road, was canceled.

The road remained closed Sunday with a ranger turning back any who attempt to drive up to the ridge.

A two-year-long project to upgrade the lodge was to cost about $11 million funded through the Great American Outdoors Act.

The lodge, originally built in 1952, was to have its roof replaced and receive upgrades to its plumbing, wiring and HVAC systems.