While many were enjoying and celebrating a local man’s victory at the Lutsen 99er, just a mile away another scene was playing out. Up on the hill at Lutsen Mountains, a fire had started at the beloved Papa Charlie’s restaurant and events center.
The fire started sometime before 6 am. While crowds were gathering at the nearby golf course for the bike race, fire crews from six area fire departments were rushing towards Lutsen for to try to battle the fire. Many of those called had also volunteered to help at Lutsen 99er Aid Station. Instead, they were battling the largest fire the North Shore has experienced in years.
The Fire
Little is known at this point about the cause of the fire, but it appears to have started near the restaurant portion of the building, not the entertainment venue. However, due to continued dry conditions, the fire quickly spread. As bikers were lining up for the start of the Lutsen 99er, reports were coming down that the entire building was engulfed in flames. Checking the Lutsen Mountains Webcam (pictured, now offline), it was clear this was not a small kitchen fire.
Papa Charlie’s is located near the Lutsen Mountains ticketing building and the new gondola ran right alongside it. While fire crews tried to keep the fire contained to Papa Charlie’s, Lutsen Mountains employees were carefully running the gondola to keep the fire from damaging the gondolas and wire system that support them. Both groups succeeded.
Around the same time that a local man won the 2023 Lutsen 99er, fire crews were knocking over what remained of Papa Charlie’s building in order to put out the rest of the fire. What remained that evening was a smoldering pile of rubble. However, while the entire Papa Charlie’s building was destroyed, no other buildings at Lutsen Mountains were damaged. The gondola remained unharmed.
Community Support
Calls went out on social media even before 7 am that more volunteers were needed for Lutsen 99er aid stations. The six fire crews that responded to Papa Charlie’s fire represented a large number of aid station volunteers. The community awoke to the call for help, and more than responded. All aid stations at the Lutsen 99er were staffed, with volunteers rushing in from all over Cook County to assist and ensure that the bike race could continue without any delays.
In addition to rushing to volunteer wherever they could, the Cook County community showed up for those who had lost so much in the fire. Another beloved local food service business was also affected by the Papa Charlie’s fire. Double Ds Catering, owned by Christy and James Marshall, used the kitchen in the building to operate their catering business. The morning of the fire they were scheduled to be at the Lutsen 99er serving food. Instead, they were watching their equipment and thousands of dollars in food be destroyed. As they were preparing to enter their busy season, they were watching their plans be destroyed by fire.
Again, the Cook County community rallied behind them with a GoFundMe that, at the time of this writing, exceeded its original $10,000 goal and is sitting at over $13,000. The money will be used to help purchase the food needed for the catering business to continue through the summer, and to help the Marshall’s purchase a food truck so they can once again prepare their food for the Cook County community and beyond.
The Aftermath
We do not know yet what caused the Papa Charlie’s fire. Nor do we know what plans there are to rebuild the restaurant and entertainment venue. We do know, however, that the fire destroyed the communications system at the mountain so they may be limited with phones and other services at this time. Per a recent Facebook post, the Alpine Slide and Summit Express Gondola reopened on June 29th. Guests can purchase tickets in advance online. The mountain services will be cashless and require all payments to be made via credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. Continue to check the Lutsen Mountains Facebook Page for further updates.