Timberline Lodge fire prompts evacuation

Firefighters responded to Timberline Lodge for a three-alarm attic fire reported by employees around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

By 11:12 p.m., firefighters said they had mostly knocked down the blaze. And at 11:30 p.m., a spokesperson for the lodge said it had been completely extinguished. Firefighters were still dousing the roof with water to keep it saturated amid high winds on Mount Hood, said John Burton, marketing director for the lodge.

No injuries have been reported, according to the Clackamas Fire District, one of the responding agencies. Crews from Hoodland Fire, Gresham Fire and Estacada Fire joined Clackamas firefighters to protect the historic structure.

Clackamas Fire said the blaze was restricted to the roof and part of the attic and hadn’t spread any further.

Preservationists were also on the scene to remove artwork and furniture from the lodge, sprayed heavily with water.

The ski area will be closed Friday, said Burton, who added praise for fire crews. “We can’t thank them enough,” he said.

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Built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration, Timberline Lodge is a family-operated Oregon landmark. It was designated as a national historic landmark in 1977, and is one of Oregon’s most popular tourist attractions.

Investigators have yet to determine a cause. One possibility, Burton said, is that embers from the chimney blowing outside may have sparked the fire.

Taylor Hatmaker, 38, and her spouse, who live in Portland, had spent the day snowboarding at Timberline, enjoyed a luxurious dinner in the historic lodge and then went back to their second-floor room about 9 p.m. to relax and listen to Taylor Swift’s newest album that dropped Thursday night.

As the second song on the album was playing, the lodge’s fire alarm started blaring, Hatmaker said.

“It was very, very loud,” she said.

The two grabbed their warm coats, put them over their pajamas and put on socks and shoes. Hatmaker said her wife reached for her wallet and inhaler, and they headed down the hallway toward a side door by the outdoor pool.

“There were people in bathing suits coming inside, and they said they saw embers on the roof,” Hatmaker recalled.

So the couple decided instead to exit through the main entrance. Hatmaker dipped back into their room to grab her car keys before exiting.

“People looked a bit freaked out. Nobody was running. Some were getting their bags packed and rolled them out as they left,” she said.

Hatmaker moved to Oregon in 2011 and had visited Timberline Lodge in the past, but Thursday night was the first time she had paid to stay as an overnight guest.

There was a wedding in the lodge that night, but the lodge didn’t seem full, she said. It had a calm, “weekday vibe,” she added. Children were playing board games by the fireplace when she and her spouse headed back to their room.

Moments before they rushed out of the lodge, “We were marveling at what a beautiful space it was,” she said.

As they stepped out the front doors into the parking lot, “you could see embers were flying off the central chimney spire,” Hatmaker said.

It was a windy, cold night. “You could see flames licking the top of the building. It was still glowing,” she said. “Embers were blowing everywhere.”

Timberline employees were instructing guests to move to the lower lot or gather in the ski rental building just below the lodge, she said.

Hatmaker said it seemed like it took about 20 minutes before firefighters arrived on scene.

The Hatmakers left their brand new ski bibs, an iPad and other clothes behind in their room.

“As soon as the fire alarms went off, we went with what we were wearing, and clothes that keep you safe,” she said. “Stuff is stuff.”

The couple decided to drive back to Portland, realizing it was unlikely they’d be returning to the lodge. As they headed west on U.S. 26, they passed at least eight firetrucks racing toward the lodge, she said.

Taylor Hatmaker and her wife, Evie Smith Hatmaker, 43, thought they had snagged a great weeknight deal for their first stay at Timberline: $275 with free breakfast. “And I’m not ever going to know what that breakfast is like,” Taylor Hatmaker quipped, as the two rode back to Portland.

“It was actually a perfect day up until tonight,” Taylor Hatmaker said.

The two are thankful no one was injured, and hope the fire didn’t cause too much damage to the national landmark.

“It’s emotional seeing something so emblematic of our state with such history on fire. It’s such a historic, special building,” she said. “Timberline means a lot of things to a lot of people.”

— Beth Slovic is a deputy editor on the public safety and breaking news team. Reach her at 503-221-8551 or bslovic@oregonian.com.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.

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