Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Kilmorey Destroyed By Fire



if the image looks a bit weird, it is horizontally inverted- I only had my webcam on me.






Just a piece of news, last night the Kilmorey Hotel caught fire and is completely destroyed. Apparently both Pincher and Waterton Fire stations responded. The Rice cabin next door was saved.

In an unrelated note, a number of decades ago a fire was set next to one of the walls of the Kilmorey. It was set during a winter storm and ended up doing no damage. Unfortunately for the person setting the fire, the storm ended and the tracks were traced back to the culprit.

Update- I updated the story after talking to my parents. My grandparents remembered things quite vividly. It is in the comments

13 Comments:

At 1/20/2009 09:55:00 AM , Blogger Stinky C said...

Our cabin is just across the street. I guess my sister & mom-in-law watched the whole thing. Crazy!

 
At 1/20/2009 02:27:00 PM , Blogger Scott Harms said...

now where am i gonna have a pint, burger, and poutine! Very sad news.

 
At 1/20/2009 04:11:00 PM , Blogger Scott Harms said...

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Waterton+Lakes+Kilmorey+Lodge+destroyed+fire/1198596/story.html

 
At 1/20/2009 04:14:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very sad a real landmark with great history.

 
At 1/20/2009 05:23:00 PM , Blogger chris goble said...

You'll have to go to my place!

 
At 1/20/2009 05:27:00 PM , Blogger chris goble said...

I just drove by and it really is quite a site to see.

As for my recollections of the fire story - here is the update from my dad and mom. It also fits better with my recollection of my Grandmother and Grandfather's first hand account.

There was a smaller hotel located where the Kilmorey now was. In 1933 during the depression in burnt down under suspicious circumstances. There was a trail in the snow leading to a house and some rather obvious signs of arson. The storm had stopped and the tracks were hard to conceal. An insurance inspector came and the word was he was going to report arson. On his way back to his home office (quite some distance away) his car had a suspicious crash. The local rumor mill had it his brakes had been tampered with.

The old Kilmorey was built up after this.

 
At 1/20/2009 05:28:00 PM , Blogger chris goble said...

Stinky - I heard the Rice's place is OK. The tiny shack out in front of the Kilmorey (staff bunk) is still standing.

 
At 1/20/2009 05:40:00 PM , Blogger chris goble said...

I also heard that it sounds like the fire started in the Kitchen - just gossip.

 
At 1/20/2009 06:26:00 PM , Blogger Aimee said...

I guess we'll have to toughen up in the winter now that no hot cup of soup awaits us :(

 
At 1/20/2009 07:33:00 PM , Blogger Blair Piggot said...

Talked to a co-worker today who voiced his suspicion and wanted to place a bet that the fire started in the kitchen. Apparently some kitchen reno's done in the past were not done very well and had the potential of being a fire hazard. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the investigation.
At any rate, i guess we'll have to bring our own beer!!

 
At 1/21/2009 09:01:00 AM , Blogger Scott Harms said...

Breaking News: they are supposedly opening the restaurant at the Lakes resort. Beer and burgers are saved!

 
At 1/21/2009 10:03:00 AM , Blogger chris goble said...

Yes, Blair - I heard kitchen reno's were slated for April.

I didn't know it was in poor shape. the kitchen was in a pretty central location in the building, so it would have been really hard to contain the fire.

I don't believe the old Waterton Volunteer fire brigade is set up to run in the winter. I heard someone say it is still going in the summers though. Not positive on that.

 
At 2/07/2009 08:41:00 AM , Blogger chris goble said...

I hear from the Lethbridge Herald that the cause of the fire has been put down to spontaneous combustion in the laundry room.

 

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