BANFF – A fire at Storm Mountain Lodge that resulted in the destruction of the facility’s maintenance garage has disrupted power to the lodge and temporarily displaced seven of its staff members.
On Friday (Jan. 12), around 1 p.m., Banff Fire Department and Parks Canada Banff field unit fire crews responded to the blaze in the lodge’s detached maintenance facility, which housed all of its electrical equipment. The fire was reported by staff who saw smoke pouring out from inside.
“Electrical breakers, transfers switches and things go through that building and that building is completely gone,” said owner Colin Forsyth.
Henry’s Electric has temporarily restored power to the lodge to try to keep it warm enough to stop pipes from freezing in the extreme cold. Temperatures in Banff National Park are expected to drop to as low as minus 52 degrees C with the wind chill by Saturday morning (Jan. 13), according to Environment Canada.
Forsyth said the lodge has also found temporary accommodations for its staff while the facility works on a plan to welcome staff and guests back.
While there were no injuries reported or other buildings affected by the fire, a sous chef working at the lodge who had accommodations in the maintenance facility lost all his personal belongings to the blaze.
“He had a little staff accom in the back of that shop and he’s lost everything ... his driver’s licence, all his clothes, everything is gone,” said Forsyth.
The lodge hopes to welcome staff and guests back next week, he noted.
“We’ll have a better idea Monday or Tuesday. If we can keep things from freezing up, then hopefully we should be able to open by Thursday.”
No guests were on site at the time of the fire and reservations were cancelled Friday and Saturday. The business expected enough guests to fill eight of its cabins both nights.
The lodge was built in 1922 and is over 100 years old. It was built as one of eight bungalow camps by the Canadian Pacific Railway to support tourism in the Rocky Mountains. In 2004, it opened to guests in the winter for the first time.
An investigation into the fire is ongoing, but Forsyth said he suspects a wood stove used to heat the inside of the old maintenance building is to blame.
“Everything was going really smoothly. We tend to have more problems with pipes freezing in the cold weather, but everything was going really smoothly ... until it wasn’t.”
He estimated the dollar loss of the building and all the equipment it contained to be around $250,000 to $300,000.
Since the lodge is located in Banff National Park, Forsyth said it will be working closely with Parks Canada to figure out a plan to replace the building.
“There’s the dollar cost, but then there’s also the thing of talking to Parks to be able to build something new," he said.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
