EDEN, Utah — Early Monday morning, fire crews responded to a blaze that sparked at the Nordic Valley Ski Resort lodge in Weber County.
No injuries were reported during the fire as the lodge was unoccupied at the time, officials said.
However, the resort said the damage was so extensive that they'll be closed until further notice. Officials said the structure — known as "the barn" — sustained enough water and fire damage that it is uninhabitable and might be a total loss.
"Unfortunately, the entire barn was damaged including our ticket office, restaurant and business offices," a social media post from the resort said. "Due to these unforeseen circumstances, we will be closed until we can get equipment to print & validate tickets."
Individuals who purchased lift tickets for Monday and other days when it's closed will be issued a refund.
A worker at the lodge saw signs of the fire around 1:51 a.m. and alerted authorities.
Crews rushed to the area to find the fire was burning through an interior wall and spreading to two other floors, Weber Fire District officials explained.
Battalion Chief Chazz Pearmain said the cause is still unknown, but not suspicious. It appears to have started on the second floor of the 3-story building.
Unfortunately, firefighting efforts were slowed down as hydrants in the area were buried in snow.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The closure was disappointing to a number of families who say this is a place has been an important part of their lives for years, where many learned to ski.
Throughout the day, there’s been a steady stream of people coming by, many hoping to ski on what is a beautiful bluebird day after a big snowstorm.
"It was a surprise. We just came up and thought we had the whole place to ourselves and turned out it was closed for the day," said Tom Harper from Bountiful, who brought his family to their favorite resort for Martin Luther King Day. "It’s just a great place for kids to learn how to ski."
The resort, which allows kids to ski for free up to 12 years old, has been a popular and often more affordable location for locals for decades.
Nordic Valley general manager Pascal Begin says their main ticketing system went down with the fire and forced Monday's unfortunate closure.
"Horrible — not only that we can’t open the resort for the day, but the lodge that burned was built in 1968. It’s part of the valley here, kind of an iconic building, so it’s extremely sad," he said. "The good news is only the lodge burned down — the lifts didn’t suffer any damages."
"We are going to be back online very very soon," Begin said.
The resort said to check their website and social media pages for updates on their reopening.
"They didn’t have any snow earlier, now they got the snow and the weather and the holiday, and now they have this, so hopefully they can make it work," Harper said.
