For more than 11 hours, six fire departments fought to extinguish a fire that ravaged the Coldwater Inn on Feb. 16.
The fire demolished the inn’s main building, but two secondary structures remain. There were no casualties. The initial cause of the fire is still being investigated.
“It was a pretty significant fire in terms of how long it lasted,” Coldwater Fire Department Chief Rich Sherman said. “A lot of things worked against us.”
Monday’s sub-zero temperatures, the building’s unique metal roof, and a broken gas line contributed to a perfect storm of factors inhibiting firefighters from quenching the flames.
According to the Coldwater Fire Department, the fire was reported by a resident who smelled smoke at 3:50 a.m. on Feb. 16.
The Coldwater Fire Department responded immediately. The location of the inn, a few miles outside of town on U.S. 12, made the situation difficult. Because there weren’t any hydrants nearby, the department called for help from neighboring fire departments for extra manpower to transport gallons of water by truckers to the location.
The departments of Quincy, Bronson, Lakeland, Union City, and Colon responded and a portion of U.S. 12 was shut down to quicken the process.
Sherman described the inn as a “complex structure” which included two, two-story units connected to one single-story structure. The fire began at the west end of the single-story’s attic, above the inn’s office and manager living area.
The building’s construction allowed for the fire to spread rapidly: Its roof, built of metal on top of multiple older roof layers, provided concealed spaces for the fire to advance.
“It was hard to break through the roof so the fire was able to travel undetected. We kept having to move down to the next unit to stop it there,” Sherman said.
The fire departments eventually brought in excavators to collapse the roof of the single-story building to help squelch the flames.
A broken gas line behind the building also inhibited the firefighters from putting out the fire.
“We had to allow that to burn because it was natural gas. Then the gas company had to find the broken pipe. They had to dig up several areas to finally find it and shut it off. It took a good two hours,” Sherman said.
The weather also played a major role in the situation, according to Sherman. Monday night’s temperature ranged from 6 degrees to minus 9 degrees.
One firefighter was admitted to a hospital for hypothermia, and eventually released, and the departments experienced technical issues with equipment freezing and men slipping on the icy, metal roof.
The firefighters did not leave the scene until 3 p.m.
The inn’s 67 guests and residents forced into the sub-zero weather with no shelter were transferred to the Coldwater Church of Nazarene and then Coldwater’s Coach Eby Youth and Family Center with assistance from the American Red Cross.
“With the help of the community and tremendous support groups the residents have been supplied with clothing and all of the essentials that they lost,” Sherman said. “They’re hopeful to reoccupy those two-story potions after the electrical issues are solved.”
