Lutsen Lodge total loss after early morning fire

5 P.M. UPDATE -- The Historic Lutsen Lodge is a total loss after the fire that broke early Tuesday morning.

Edward Vanegas, the general manager of the Lutsen Lodge, received a call from the fire alarm company about the alarm going off in the building.

He arrived on scene around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday and watched as the smoke quickly turned into raging flames.

“It was uncontrollable, in my opinion, after that,” said Vanegas. “I thought there was no way it would be contained at all.”

Normally, a general manager wants a lodge full of people but Vanegas was grateful there were no guests that night.

“Very rare to not have guests overnight,” said Vanegas. “It’s a Monday night which is quiet anyway. Maybe a couple of guests, but rare to have zero.”

Lutsen Fire Chief Steven Duclos said they were ready for a fire to break out in the 80-year-old, wooden building at any moment.

“It’s been a concern in our department for a number of years,” said Duclos. “We come and tour and kind of strategize how we’re going to fight that if it did happen.”

Lutsen and neighboring departments battled the fire for hours and even pumped water from Lake Superior to fight the flames.

Not much remains of the actual building, but Vanegas said the community should have hope because plans to rebuild the beloved lodge have already begun.

“We still have those rolled-up architectural drawings, and we’ll change the date and rebuild it with new building codes today,” said Vanegas. “We’ll put that thing back.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal.

LUTSEN, MN (Northern News Now) - An early morning fire just before 1 a.m. engulfed the Lutsen Resort.

According to a news release from the Cook County Sherriff, several crews responded to the resort near Highway 61 in Lutsen.

Once on scene, crews reported smoke coming from the lobby.

The main Lutsen Lodge building became engulfed by the fire.

No guests were on site at the time of the fire, according to authorities.

According to the lodge’s manager, only one employee was working when they saw smoke.

The employee made it out safely.

No one was injured in the incident.

The State Fire Marshal is investigating this incident.

This is a developing story, check back for details.

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