Wind-Whipped Fire Destroys Majority Of Historic Pocono Manor Resort
POCONO MANOR, Pa. (CBS/AP) — A wind-whipped fire has destroyed much of a century-old Poconos resort that's on the National Register of Historic Places. General Manager Don Snyder calls the damage Friday to the Pocono Manor Resort "heartbreaking."
No injuries were been reported in the 6 a.m. blaze, which burned throughout the day and toppled the inn's clock tower.
Guests were checked into 20 of the resorts 240 rooms and they were all safely evacuated, The Morning Call reports.
The Monroe County resort is known locally as "the grand lady of the mountains."
Neighbors say it's one of the last grand resorts in the Poconos.
"This is among the last of the Poconos' grand old resorts built in the early 20th century," Mary Ellen Abdelnar told The Morning Call, noting the Skytop Lodge in Barrett Township and Shawnee Inn in Shawnee On Delaware are two of the resorts still surviving.
"There's a lot of history here," neighbor Sharon Bonavits-Sinkevich said. "My sister was married there. I worked my way through college waiting tables there."
They believe the fire started in a dining area and quickly spread.
The inn had been set to close on Nov. 29 for a two-year renovation, which included a chair lift down the mountain to Pocono Lumnia and a fantasy adventure-themed park, according to Snyder.
Pocono Manor was built by Quakers in 1902 and designated a historic site in 1977.
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