Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort fire: No one hurt in blaze
UTICA, Ill. -- Multiple fire departments responded Tuesday to a blaze at a northern Illinois resort near Starved Rock State Park early Tuesday. Utica Fire Chief Ben Brown said an alarm sounded at Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort at 5:30 a.m.
Firefighters spent several hours in the bitter cold Tuesday morning, working to extinguish an extra-alarm blaze at a resort and indoor water park in Utica, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago.Firefighters spent several hours in the bitter cold Tuesday morning, working to extinguish an extra-alarm blaze at a resort and indoor water park in Utica, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago.Chief of Staff Edward Rogers said all guests were safely evacuated and the fire was under control by 8:30 a.m,but remained on the scene long after to make sure it didn't spark up again. Officials said no one was injured.
LaSalle County sheriff's officials said the fire was in the main lodge and pool area at the resort in Utica, which is about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. One mother who was staying at the resort said the fire alarms woke her up, and at first she thought kids had pulled it as a prank.
"Then when I went in the hallway, that's when I saw that there was flames in the pool," she said.
Utica's fire command requested salt trucks because of ice at the scene, where the temperature Tuesday hovered around minus 11 degrees. Several nearby municipalities sent fire trucks to help with the extra-alarm blaze, including LaSalle, Peru and Ottawa.
As firefighters battled wind chills around 25 below zero, confused guests had to evacuate the building and keep warm in their cars. Several sought refuge in Starved Rock Lodge, about a mile and a half away.
"There was a window to the water park, and we could see through the window the water park looked like maybe a gas heater had caught on fire in the wall, and there was flames coming from it, and a lot of smoke," one guest said.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.