After four days of burning and smoldering, the Golden Poles Chalet fire finally appears to be under control in Government Camp on Mount Hood.

The order for local residents to boil water has been lifted, and the smoke pollution is easing up. Soon the building will cool sufficiently for investigators to enter and seek out clues as to what caused the blaze.

Large questions loom as the investigation begins:

What caused the fire? Something caused a massive fire to break out suddenly on the top floor of a three-story condo building next to a ski resort. What was it? There have been reports of explosions, but other eyewitnesses have said they did not hear explosions.

What is the deal with the reported cache of gunpowder? Did someone really have 30 pounds of gunpowder in a Mount Hood ski condo, as one resident told KGW news? If so, who? And why? What was the risk to the community? And was the gunpowder a contributing factor to the fire?

UPDATE: Several sources have reported that gunpowder is hard to come by on the mountain, so locals who are into shotguns and ammunition stock up when a batch comes into the Bi-Mart in Sandy. The person with the black powder stash was reportedly also the person who sounded the fire alarm to warn others of the fire — his unit was on the opposite end of the third floor from where the fire started. Black powder is explosive and highly flammable — thus the warning to the firefighters about its proximity to the fire. Investigators have found no link between the stored gunpowder and the fire.

What is the extent of the damage? Is anything salvageable from the 30 condo units and the parking garage underneath?

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the answer to this question appears to be no. Golden Poles owners report that little if anything remains after the fire, with the surprising exception of cars parked in the underground lot.

How recently was the Golden Poles Chalet inspected for fire safety, and how did it fare? The building reportedly had no sprinkler system and some units didn’t even have fire extinguishers. Did it have a functioning smoke detector/fire alarm system? Ericka Lafever, a 21-year-old woman with a broken leg who was rescued by friends before the firefighters arrived, didn’t hear any alarms. She was trapped inside by the time she realized her building was on fire. Did other witnesses hear fire alarms? The most recent information suggests that the building’s fire alarms were wired for the basement only, and higher up emergencies required physical prompting to set off an audible alarm.

UPDATE: Several people reported hearing a loud fire alarm soon after the fire began.

How well prepared for fire are other buildings in Govy? How frequent are fire inspections? Does the community’s status as an unincorporated community in remote Clackamas County result in lax enforcement of fire codes?

UPDATE: Small and remote and unincorporated, Govy has struggled for years to provide basic services to local residents. The water supply is finite and more than one local resident has used the adjective “non-existent” to describe on-mountain firefighting capability.

How well-equipped is Government Camp to fight major fires? Govy has a community water source run by a private water company that was overwhelmed by the burning of one building — thus the order to boil water. With rising temperatures and dry summers likely in the future, some locals are wondering what would happen in the event of a nearby forest fire. Does Govy need a much larger water tank uphill from town, a backup for community safety?

UPDATE: What are the lessons to be learned from the Golden Poles fire? No doubt there are many, but one that rises to the surface is this: If you own property in Govy, make sure it is well insured.

Those are just some of the questions that come to mind, and no doubt a few of them will be discussed in detail at the upcoming meeting of the Government Camp Community Planning Organization‘s next public meeting on May 9.

Got answers? Ideas? Add them to the comments section below.

Got info tips worthy of investigation? By all means pass them along.

Last modified: April 24, 2015