Hellgate Fire

marchizzle · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:50 am Post subject: Hellgate Fire

I just walked out of the bedroom groggy.. turned on the TV and first thing on Channel 2 News was breaking news re: a 3-alarm fire at Hellgate. Evacuated all people from condo complex and news reporting NO INJURIES>

apparently the wind was whipping and the white-out conditions made it a tough fire to knock down.. started around 1am. It's under control now.

I'll get a look today when we go up and follow-up to this thread..

if anyone has first-hand info or photos please post here

GBM

radrasta · Joined: 27 Oct 2005 Posts: 8

so much for the road gap to hell gate garage landing. Sad

PowderHound · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject:

Here's a picture taken from the bypass road at 9A this morning.

It was still burning when I drove down the canyon at noon but the fire is under control. So far there hasn't been an official cause named for the blaze. While only the western most condo in the complex burned, everyones been evacuated, which is more than 50 people. The blaze started in the middle of the night and according to Patrick O'Connor, one of the renters in the condo: “By the time we were all awake and running around, the place was filled with smoke to the point where you couldn't see." All the residents got out of the buildings unharmed, although they were stuck in their sleep clothes. The Red Cross and the Lift Company helped them find coats, clothing and toiletries. They also provided food and massages for the tired victims.

There are some additional pictures on the KSL website at:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=148045

As soon as we find out the cause of the fire we'll let you all know. If anyone has any additional pictures please feel free to post them here, as well as any other accounts of the fire.

bandit · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:30 am Post subject: Whoa!

Good to hear that everyone is OK. It truly did become Hell's Gate!

Bandit

marchizzle · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject: Whoa.

Jesse covered my follow-up with his post...thanks for that photo. Probably not too many Hellgate Fire of 2006 photos on the web...yet. It was crazy driving up and seeing the thing burning still in late morning.. from bypass road it's a pretty close distance to the actual structure (where Powderhound's above photo was taken from). So glad no one was trapped in there.

One thing I am curious about.. How are the Eastern-most units? It looked to me like the Western-most building (the one down canyon) was all that was burning..

gr8skape · Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 2

For those of us who were in the fire - and got out - it will be tough to follow the story from out of town as they try to determine what caused the fire. Can any of you local guys keep this site updated with new information? Also, how do you post pictures on the site? I have a bunch.

marchizzle · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject: DAMN!

Hi gr8skape, Wow what an ordeal. I am glad you posted...

We'd love to see some photos.. Do you have the ability to post
these digital images to a Web server? If so, once you do just use
[img]http://image_url[/img].

If you don't have the ability to post your photos to the web email
them to me and I will post them here on your behalf.

My email is garymarcoccia (at) yahoo.com

marchizzle · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:11 pm Post subject: A photo submission by gr8skape

Check this out... gr8skape just emailed me this photo to share:

Here's the email I received:

>> Gary,

>> Here's the best one I've got so far.
>> It was a wild ride.
>> Nonetheless, skiing was great in a foot of powder the next
>> day. Feel free to post photo.

From what reads there gr8skape still got some the next day...!

gr8skape,
Did you loose your gear? If so did someone donate gear? How
did it go down? Were you all awakened by fire alarms or..??

Just some questions I know I am curious about. Thanks for this
photo!

gr8skape · Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 2

marchizzle - yeah, we pretty much lost everything except what we were wearing at the time. The Hellgate management company was great. They got us put up at Goldminer's Daughter and covered the cost to rent gear and buy some ski clothes to ski the next few days. The Red Cross also provided essentials, toiletries, logistics, phone calls.... Overall, I can't say enough about the people of ALTA. Everyone was great. The fact that we never considered cutting our trip short says a lot about how great the place - and the people are.

Thos · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Posts: 1

I know how they feel -- I was working at the GMD when it blew-up 20 years ago. The folks at ALTA do pull together.

A part of history is lost, but I am sure something good will come out of it.

marchizzle · Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:08 am Post subject: any word on how it started?

Has the cause of the fire been made public yet? I havent heard anything.. but I don't watch the news or anything..

GBM

marchizzle · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:27 pm Post subject: nuthin yet..

Quick follow-up to my last post above.. my sources tell me the official cause has not been released yet to the public.. gr8skape, as soon as I hear (or if anyone hears the official word before me please post it) I'll post here..

marchizzle

"UFA has determined the origin of the fire but has yet to have a definite cause of the fire."

http://alta.utah.gov/minFeb06.htm

This was as of Feb 9th (sorry for not updating this thread sooner..). I am wondering if the definite cause has been determined yet.. anyone know??