As if the hotel made famous by Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Shining” wasn’t scary enough, guests had a real fright when the famous building’s roof caught fire last week.
According to the Oregonian, firefighters responded to the Timberline Lodge, located in Mount Hood, Ore., for a three-alarm fire reported around 9:30 p.m. on April 18. It took multiple departments to overcome the blaze, which was completely extinguished by 11:30 p.m.
Guests were evacuated from the hotel once the fire alarm went off, with some telling the Oregonian “you could see embers were flying off the central chimney spire” and “see flames licking the top of the building.”
Officials with Clackamas Fire Department said the fire was kept to the roof and part of the attic. Firefighters doused the roof of the historic building with water to keep it saturated amid high winds. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and damage to the structure appears to be minimal.
"Historical preservation efforts are also underway," the hotel's website states. "There are challenges ahead but we are through the worst of it."
As of publication, investigators have yet to fully determine the cause of the fire, though it appears to be embers from the chimney were blown outside and ignited the roof. They may want to check if anyone by the last name of Torrance was staying at the hotel, though the hotel’s website does tell guests “Rest assured, Timberline is not haunted!”
Built in the 1930s roughly 6,000 feet up on Mount Hood, the Timberline Lodge was designated as a national historic landmark in 1977. When filming the 1980 horror classic “The Shining,” Kubrick used aerial shots of the venue as part of the opening scene. These, along with exterior shots, were used to depict the outside of the fictional Overlook Hotel where the movie takes place.
According to the hotel’s website, the roofline, designed with a steep pitch of the headhouse roof, mimics the nearby peak of Mount Hood.
While the interior of the hotel is gorgeous, fans of the movie might be disappointed to discover it doesn’t resemble the movie. This is because the interior of the Overlook Hotel was mostly sets built on soundstages in England, based on the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, Calif.