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Eagle Creek fire
not first time
Multnomah Falls
engulfed by flames; historic lodge barely saved in 1991
not first time
Multnomah Falls
engulfed by flames; historic lodge barely saved in 1991
Eagle Creek fire not first time Multnomah Falls engulfed by flames; historic lodge barely saved in 1991
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Gallery: Multnomah Falls
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Firefighting crews on Tuesday protected the historic, tudor-style lodge at the bottom of the falls by keeping it wet while flames ate at large trees nearby.
"You see fire above and working its way through those areas where those beautiful falls are, and it's pretty heartbreaking," said Lt. Damon Simmons, a spokesman for the state fire marshal. He added that it's "pretty surreal to see that area on fire."
It is surreal, and awful, but this isn't the first time the iconic tourist draw 25 miles east of Portland has found itself in the path of flames. On Oct. 9, 1991, for example, a wildfire broke out just after midnight on the ridge behind the falls, and sharp eastward winds spread it quickly. Firefighters were diverted from another nearby wildfire to battle the new one.
"An army of 1,400 firefighters from 36 agencies was assembled to battle the fire," The Oregonian reported at the time. Throughout the day, helicopters dumped water from the Columbia River on the blaze.
Crews covered the Multnomah Falls lodge in fire-retardant foam, as embers rained down on the roof and large rocks clattered down from the cliffs above.
As the fire pushed toward the ground, The Oregonian wrote, "a crew from the Vista Grande Hotshots of California held the line, putting water on the fire while dodging rocks the size of basketballs."
The firefighters ultimately stopped the flames just 10 feet from the wood-and-stone building, which was built in 1925.
The 1991 fire, significantly smaller than the current Eagle Creek fire, covered 1,430 acres of steep forest over six days.
The Multnomah Falls Lodge opened a week after the blaze was extinguished but most of the nearby trails, with rocks slides continuing, remained off-limits for a while.
-- Dou
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