Flames and smoke billow out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
Flames and smoke billow out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
Flames shoot out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (COURTESY PHOTO)
North Conway Fire Chief Pat Preece (second from left) confers with other fire officials at the staging area outside the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (TOM EASTMAN PHOTO)
Flames and smoke billow out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort as people watch from the lawn and sidewalks in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
Flames and smoke billow out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
Flames and smoke billow out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
Flames shoot out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (COURTESY PHOTO)
North Conway Fire Chief Pat Preece (second from left) confers with other fire officials at the staging area outside the Red Jacket Mountain Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (TOM EASTMAN PHOTO)
Flames and smoke billow out of the south wing of the Red Jacket Mountain Resort as people watch from the lawn and sidewalks in North Conway on Saturday afternoon. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)
CONWAY -- A large fire broke out in the south wing of the sprawling Red Jacket Mountain View Resort in North Conway on Saturday afternoon.
According to reports posted on the North Conway Fire Department Facebook page, firefighters were pulling supply lines across multiple roads, requesting more manpower and pulling hose lines across Route 16 to get more water for their pumper trucks.
At one point, some guests could be seen jumping from upper-level to lower-level balconies before safely escaping at the ground level.
According to the State Fire Marshal's office, at 2:47 p.m., the Department of Safety’s Division of Emergency Services and Communications received a 911 call reporting a fire. The first crews to arrive witnessed flames and smoke pouring from the third floor of the building where guests were evacuating.
In the hours since, strong wind gusts challenged firefighters battling the blaze.
The North Conway Fire Department requested assistance and multiple local departments provided mutual aid, including Conway, Center Conway, East Conway, Redstone, Bartlett, Jackson, Madison, Tamworth, Ossipee, Center Ossipee, Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Sandwich, Milton, Wolfeboro, Shelburne, Effingham and Wakefield.
Brownfield and Fryeburg, Maine, also reportedly responded. Resources from Action Ambulance and Lakes Region Mutual Aid were provided. The Office of the State Fire Marshal was contacted to assist in the follow-up investigation.
About 150 guests were displaced when the fire broke out, officials said. Many of the guests were still in their bathing suits, having been at the Kahuna Laguna water park at the hotel.
Fast Taxi and school buses were brought in to ferry guests to nearby hotels, such as the Green Granite Inn and Fox Ridge Resort. One guest from Saco, Maine, was concerned that her car keys were still in her room and may have melted. Other guests from Concord were having relatives bring their spare set of car keys.
People given blankets by the Red Jacket as they were escorted onto buses, and Walmart donated cases of water.
Linda Burns, assistant town emergency director, said the John H. Fuller Elementary School gym was put on alert as a possible staging area for displaced guests but apparently it was not needed.
Gawkers were seen on the front lawn of the Red Jacket taking pictures, and guests were grouped on the east lawn until police moved everyone to the edge of the driveway.
At 5 p.m., engines were seen lined up along Route 16. Sheriff's deputies had the road blocked off north and south of the fire area and were diverting traffic over to the North-South Road. Route 16 has since been reopened, the state fire marshal's office said.
Two firefighters and one civilian were treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries. They were transported to Memorial Hospital as a precaution. At this time, there have been no reports of unaccounted-for guests.
The Red Jacket management issued the following statement Saturday afternoon:
"At this time, the North Conway Fire Department and area partners are working to extinguish the flames," said Laura Knudsen. "Guest safety remains our utmost focus as we continue to work closely with emergency responders."
The Red Jacket was built in 1971 after the previous hotel there, the Birchmont, once owned by Cranmore developer Harvey Dow Gibson, burned. It is not known whether the current hotel has a sprinkler system installed in the rooms.
Red Jacket Mountain View in North Conway was sold last fall by the Davenport Companies of South Yarmouth, Mass., to affiliates of the New York-based company EOS Investors LLC along with five other Red Jacket properties on Cape Cod.
No further details about the fire are available at this time. Anyone with information regarding the fire is asked to contact the Office of the State Fire Marshal at (603) 223-4289.
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good going cads, you call us towns people that support your sorry crappy paper "Gawkers" a better word could have bee bystanders or even onlookers... No wonder your paper is loosing so much money.. Gawkers is very darocetory.
Maybe you should master English before complaining? Gawkers is probably the best term and you were offended because you were one?
How sad and tragic. I was a subcontractor for the Red Jacket from March of 1980 until January of 2020. There isn't a sprinkler system in the South or North wings to service the rooms. But there is a sprinkler system in the commercial core which separates the two wings and houses the dining room on the top floor, the lobby offices and lounge on the second floor and a large function room on the ground floor. The commercial core was rebuilt in the 90s so it had to have a sprinkler system in order to be up to code.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
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