FRIDAY , J ANUARY 14, 2011
1- 8 0 0 - 347 -0673
yourdailyglobe.com
Lucy Montonati
DAILY GLOBE IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN — VOLUME 92, EDITION 11
75 CENTS
Ski lodge lost in blaze
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INSIDE Jam-packed preps Eleven area teams take to the court Thursday night as teams get back into action after the winter break. —Details, Pg. 9
Big Powderhorn’s main building total loss in Thursday fire By MARGARET LEVRA DAVID SIM, RALPH ANSAMI and JON HAWLEY news@yourdailyglobe.com
BESSEMER — Fire destroyed most of the main lodge at Big Powderhorn Mountain Ski Resort on Thursday morning. No one was injured in the fire, which started in the east side of the main lodge, according to Gogebic County Sheriff Pete Matonich. Matonich said he was the first law enforcement officer at the scene and the building was fully engulfed when he arrived. The wood-framed structure on the east side burned quickly, he said. Owner Bruce Noren said Road closed Thursday afternoon that the BESSEMER — Powderhill would be 100 percent horn Road was expected to open today, with all runs open be closed to through traffic and chairlifts in full opera- until late this morning, Gogetion. bic County Sheriff Pete The fire started around Matonich said Thursday 11:08 a.m. evening. James Chiapuzio was The road was barricaded working in the rental area of at the cheese house located Big Powderhorn when the within the Powderhorn village. fire alarms went off. “If you need to get to the “I was really shocked when Caribou Lodge or beyond that I saw how big it was,” he said. point, you will have to use the “It went up a lot faster than I north access from Black River Road,” Matonich advised. expected.” Chiapuzio said he thought it was a drill at first. “Then we just kept hearing ‘please evacuate,’ and I knew it was different,” he said. Amber Hendricks, from Bessemer, watched the blaze with her husband and son near the chalets. “This is really devastating,” she said. “This building has been here for years, and we really can’t believe this has happened.” Noren noted only the expansive main building was damaged. He said Powderhorn would operate out of the Caribou Lodge, and all questions should be directed there. Employees evacuated the building within minutes. The flames that engulfed the east side of the building
Daily Globe photos by Margaret Levra (above) David Sim (right)
Searching for insight Daily Globe reporter Jon Hawley looks for answers after a senseless shooting in Tucson, Ariz. —Details, Pg. 4
WEATHER INDEX Thursday High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Year ago today High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Records High . . . . . . . . . . . 46 (1987) Low . . . . . . . . . . . -25 (1929) Snowfall To 7 a.m. Thursday . . . . . trace Season’s snow. . . . 94.9 inches Snow year ago . . . 113.7 inches On the ground . . . . . 21 inches
—More details, Page 2
Flames (above) engulf the main lodge at Big Powderhorn Mountain near Bessemer on Thursday afternoon. By afternoon most of the flames had been snuffed out, as 11 different fire departments from the area assisted in helping put out the blaze. More photos, pages 7 and 8
INDEX Classifieds . . . .12-13 Comics . . . . . . . . .14 Community . . . . . . .5 Home & Garden . . . .6 NASCAR . . . . . . . .11 Obituaries . . . . . . . .3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . .4 Powderhorn fire .1,7-8 Sports . . . . . . . .9-11
(See BLAZE — Page 7)
Gogebic deputies’ contract extended without pay hike By RALPH ANSAMI ransami@yourdailyglobe.com
BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners agreed Wednesday to extend the sheriff’s department union contract for one year without any wage increases. On a motion by Donald Pezzetti, of Wakefield, the board approved extending the contract from December 2011 to December 2012, with the provision that
the may be reopened after a year if insurance rates increase by more than 10 percent. The motion passed 7-1, with George Peterson of Watersmeet opposed. The deputies will receive a $250 flexible spending account under the agreement, and there will be changes in insurance. The county board approved recommendations from the personnel and negotia-
WE ARE BUYING!!
tions committee for the following changes: —$40 doctor office and chiropractic visits, funded at $20 by the county. —A $3,000/$6,000 deductible, funded down to $100/$200 and an emergency room rider with a co-pay of $250. —A three-tier prescription drug card at $7/$35/$70. The insurance changes accepted by the deputies’ union will also be offered to the courthouse union employees, the commit-
tee members agreed. On Wednesday, the county board also authorized Sheriff Pete Matonich to inform the deputies that they can receive a payment up to 40 hours of vacation time per year to alleviate overtime for a oneyear trial period. County administrator Juliane Giackino said the courthouse employees union was to meet today on its contract.
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POWDERHORNFIRE
THE DAILY GLOBE
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011 G 7
Margaret Levra/Daily Globe
Flames (top) burn the majority of the east side of the main lodge at Big Powderhorn Mountain Thursday. The fire started at 11:07 a.m. and the cause is undetermined. A fire marshal is expected on scene this morning to investigate. Lisa Ursini/Daily Globe
A firefighter (middle) walks across a ladder on Thursday afternoon at the main lodge. Nine different area fire departments assisted at the scene through the evening hours. David Sim/Daily Globe
Smoke (bottom) billows as flames are extinguished by firefighters Thursday afternoon. Nobody was hurt in the blaze. First responders set up in the nearby Caribou Lodge, where employees watched the fire. Bystanders and other curious individuals came out to see the building in flames. Owner Bruce Noren said the hill would be 100 percent open today, with all lifts and runs in operation. Caribou Lodge will serve as the main building of operation.
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BLAZE: (Continued from Page 1) spread all the way to the far west side, where the ski rental shop was damaged. Ironwood businessman Mark Fitting and about a dozen people were removing damaged items from Fitting’s ski shop and loading them into the back of a pickup truck around 6 p.m. The ski shop was underwater. An employee managed to take Powderhorn’s computer server out of the main lodge before it was destroyed, according to another employee. By 1 p.m., firefighters had most of the flames under control, but black smoke still billowed from the smoldering building. A wall collapsed on one side of the lodge around 5:30 p.m., but most of the building remained standing, although burned beyond repair. Water turned to ice in front of the building from melted snow by nightfall, and numerous firemen remained at the scene, although they weren’t using hoses. Since there were no hydrants in the area, water had to be brought in by trucks at a continuous rate. Multiple ladder trucks from different departments controlled
the fire from above. Firefighters from 9 area departments responded to assist. Firefighters remained at the scene throughout the day. Area police officers were stationed at the U.S. 2 intersection at Powderhorn Road and along Powderhorn Road, just north of the hill, to direct traffic. Powderhorn Road was closed to non-emergency traffic in the immediate area of the fire. The origin of the fire was unknown, Matonich said. Chiapuzio said he believed the fire may have come from the garbage room near the cafeteria. A fire marshal was expected to be on the scene at 9 this morning to begin his investigation to determine the cause of fire. Caribou Lodge was initially set up as a first responder point and remained a station for first aid, shelter and meeting place throughout most of the afternoon.
OTHER HILLS OFFER AID To help Big Powderhorn get back up and running smoothly, the owner and general manager of Blackjack Mountain Ski Resort, Rick Schmitz, said nearby Blackjack was sharing business supplies such as lift tickets with the resort.
At Indianhead Mountain Resort, near Wakefield, vicepresident of sales and marketing Dave Nyquist said Indianhead had not been approached for assistance, but stood ready to offer it. “We’ve always helped each other in the past,” Nyquist said. “Even though we’re competitors, we’re a tight-knit group. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through. ... Thank God no one was injured.” Other fire departments responding on Thursday were the Ironwood Public Safety Department, Bessemer, Bessemer Township and Wakefield; and from Wisconsin, Hurley, Kimball, Saxon-Gurney and Oma. The Montreal Fire Department was backing up the city of Ironwood. Also on hand were personnel from Beacon Ambulance, Michigan State Police, Gogebic County Road Commission, Gogebic County Victims Services and the American Red Cross. According to Powderhorn’s website, anyone with reservations for lodging should contact the lodging office at 800-501-7669.
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POWDERHORNFIRE
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2011
THE DAILY GLOBE
Peggy Krohn photo
Two hurley firefighters (top, left) work a hose from a ladder Thursday afternoon. Peggy Krohn, who submitted the photo, said she heard there was a fire while in Walmart. She heard a fireman’s radio go off. She got her husband and went out to the scene. Zig Pavlock photo
Ashes smolder (top, right) in the eastern part of the remains of Big Powderhorn’s main lodge Thursday afternoon. Zig Pavlock, who submitted the photo, said he found out about the fire from his girlfriend’s daughter, who lives in San Antonio. She called and told them she saw it on the Web. John Hellman photo
Flames engulf the main lodge (right) at Big Powderhorn Thursday afternoon. The photo was taken from the south side of the building. David Sim/Daily Globe
Three area firefighters (bottom, right) look on as other firefighters in the background work to control the blaze Thursday.
at the BAD RIVER CASINO...
Ralph Ansami/Daily Globe
The ski rental shop (above, middle) at Big Powderhorn is underwater Thursday evening. Mark Fitting, right (above) gets help loading ski equipment into the back of a pickup truck. His ski rental shop fell victim to the Thursday fire.
TIM McGRAW TRIBUTE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH
Powderhorn fast facts WHAT — Big Powderhorn Mountain Ski Resort is one of four ski hills on the Gogebic Range, also known as Big Snow Country. WHERE — Big Powderhorn is located between Ironwood and Bessemer; Indianhead Mountain is located near Wakefield, Blackjack Mountain also operates near Bessemer, and Whitecap Mountain offers downhill skiing on the Wisconsin side, near Upson. RECENT SALE — The sale of Big Powderhorn, between Ironwood and Bessemer, to Agates LLC — Bruce Noren, Mary Segalin and Donna Greener — was completed about a year ago. Agates LLC was formed by Noren, former mayor of Ironwood, who was involved with ski hill lodging before the sale; Segalin, employed with Big Powderhorn Lodging; and Greener, a home owner at Powderhorn. HILL INFO — The ski hill has 33 runs, two terrain parks and 253 skiable acres. There are nine double chairlifts and the hill has a capacity of 10,800 skiers per hour. THIS WEEKEND — Martin Luther King weekend at Big Powderhorn runs Saturday through Monday.
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