Skiers can glide down the slopes at Mystic Mountain today, five days after a fire destroyed the Sundial Ski Lodge at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County, a spokesman said.
The charred rubble from the two-story lodge has been cleared, gravel has been spread over muddy ground and heated tents have gone up, spokesman Jeff Nobers said Thursday.
Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Somerset County has loaned the resort skis, boots and other equipment, he said. The snow-making and grooming equipment and the lifts were not damaged.
"We are good to go," Nobers said. "We have been making snow this week. We still have a natural base."
Flames from the fierce fire could be seen for miles around. The lodge's sprinkler system couldn't contain the flames, said Brian VanSickle, chief of the nearby Farmington fire department.
"It literally was raining fireballs," VanSickle said. Falling embers damaged hose lines, and the heat blew out the windshield of a pumper truck.
Nobers said the resort is awaiting a state police fire marshal's report on the cause. The fire marshal did not return a call seeking comment.
"It could take several weeks to make a determination, based on the destruction," Nobers said. "The general assumption is that it was electrical (in nature), but that is not official."
Nobers said insurance investigators are documenting the financial loss.
"There was rental equipment, staff members' personal items," he said. "It's going to be in the millions (of dollars)," he said.
Firefighters from a dozen companies struggled with hydrants because of the 9-degree temperature, VanSickle said. After firefighters exhausted the resort's water system, a shuttle of tankers hauled water from a municipal line 2 miles away.
Other resort buildings are better protected from fire, both Nobers and VanSickle said.
Nobers said water sources for the 2,000-acre resort's various properties include city and well water, as well as retention ponds.
The resort has 166 guest rooms in the Chateau LaFayette and Falling Rock, both five-star hotels; other accommodations in condominiums, townhouses and luxury homes; and a former outdoors center proposed as the site for Lady Luck Casino. All front the public water municipal line, Nobers said.
Those buildings, which house a $45 million art collection centered in the Chateau, have bigger sprinkler systems and more fire retardant construction, Nobers and VanSickle said.
In Sunday's fire, the two employees inside the lodge escaped uninjured, but the massive blaze took a toll on firefighters as well as their equipment.
Several firefighters needed medical treatment for smoke inhalation, and one still has breathing problems and elevated blood pressure, VanSickle said.
The resort plans to rebuild the lodge.
"What the new facility will look like, whether it will be just for skiing or if additional amenities will be added. ... We are far from a final decision," Nobers said.
