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Out of the ashes ... a commitment to rebuild
'We are determined to do this,' says Callahan's owner Ron Bergquist after an outpouring of support
By SARAH LEMON
Mail Tribune
ASHLAND — Met with "overwhelming" community support since a kitchen grease fire turned Callahan's Lodge to charred rubble, owner Ron Bergquist said he plans to rebuild.
Bergquist said he didn't have much insurance on the 11,000 square-foot building, which with its 2.5 acres and outbuildings is assessed at nearly $3 million. But Bergquist, the founder of the Shari's restaurant chain, said he thinks Callahan's can be rebuilt "as close as possible" to the original 41-year-old mountain lodge within six months.
"We are determined to do this," Bergquist said.
Bergquist and his wife, Donna, have an entire community pulling for them. Since Saturday afternoon's devastating fire, Bergquist estimates thousands of people have visited the site south of Ashland to show their support. The property is on Old Highway 99 near Exit 6 on Interstate 5.
"We're blown away by the sentiment, the emotions," Bergquist said. "I've been to funerals and wakes where there wasn't anywhere near the tears shed."
[No one was injured, but nothing was salvaged from the building when it went up in flames at about 2:45 p.m. An open-flame burner on one of the kitchen's propane ranges ignited grease accumulated in the kitchen hood system, said Michelle Stevens, deputy state fire marshal.
An employee, Bergquist said, turned the appliance on too high and left it unattended. The owner and another employee tried to fight the fire with a handheld chemical extinguisher but, in hindsight, cooled the flames enough to keep the hood's extinguisher system from activating, Bergquist said, characterizing their efforts as a "comedy of errors."
"You go through a situation like this ... it's hard to process the best logic," Bergquist said.
Bergquist said if he'd had the presence of mind, he should have shut off the kitchen exhaust fan or manually activated the sprinkler system. Stevens said the fire was just too much for the sprinklers to handle.
"When the fire truck got here, he said, 'We're not even going to try to put it out,' " Bergquist recalled.
Instead, fire crews focused their efforts on saving the Bergquists' nearby residence, protecting propane tanks from the blaze and keeping it away from adjacent forest lands, said Jackson County Fire District No. 5 Chief Dan Marshall.
Flames consumed the Bergquists' computers and all their business records, including payroll and event bookings. Redding couple Amber Hall and Ed Blews lost their nuptial site along with the entire wedding party's luggage, Bergquist said.
Callahan's "will take care of people" who had planned special events there, Bergquist said. Deposits will be refunded, and gift certificates will be honored past their expiration date, he said. The lodge was booked for events just about every weekend for the next year, he added.
One of his sons — a construction contractor — will arrive at Callahan's within the week to "figure out what it would take to put it back together," Bergquist said. Although insurance reimbursements will be "tight," the restaurateur said his experience building eateries will help him resurrect Callahan's. A former construction worker, the Eagle Point native said he put up each of the first few Shari's in three months.
One thing Bergquist can't regain is the 1965 building's history.
Retired Ashland police detective Brent Jensen reminisced Tuesday about his carpentry work on the lodge's formal dining room, added in 1979. A generation of Ashland High School kids grew up working at Callahan's alongside sons of the original owners, Don and Nilde Callahan, said Jensen, who visited the site with his mother, Marjorie Jensen.
"(It's) a landmark I'm sure everyone ... hopes will be replaced," she said.
Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail
'We are determined to do this,' says Callahan's owner Ron Bergquist after an outpouring of support
By SARAH LEMON
Mail Tribune
ASHLAND — Met with "overwhelming" community support since a kitchen grease fire turned Callahan's Lodge to charred rubble, owner Ron Bergquist said he plans to rebuild.
Bergquist said he didn't have much insurance on the 11,000 square-foot building, which with its 2.5 acres and outbuildings is assessed at nearly $3 million. But Bergquist, the founder of the Shari's restaurant chain, said he thinks Callahan's can be rebuilt "as close as possible" to the original 41-year-old mountain lodge within six months.
"We are determined to do this," Bergquist said.
Bergquist and his wife, Donna, have an entire community pulling for them. Since Saturday afternoon's devastating fire, Bergquist estimates thousands of people have visited the site south of Ashland to show their support. The property is on Old Highway 99 near Exit 6 on Interstate 5.
"We're blown away by the sentiment, the emotions," Bergquist said. "I've been to funerals and wakes where there wasn't anywhere near the tears shed."
[No one was injured, but nothing was salvaged from the building when it went up in flames at about 2:45 p.m. An open-flame burner on one of the kitchen's propane ranges ignited grease accumulated in the kitchen hood system, said Michelle Stevens, deputy state fire marshal.
An employee, Bergquist said, turned the appliance on too high and left it unattended. The owner and another employee tried to fight the fire with a handheld chemical extinguisher but, in hindsight, cooled the flames enough to keep the hood's extinguisher system from activating, Bergquist said, characterizing their efforts as a "comedy of errors."
"You go through a situation like this ... it's hard to process the best logic," Bergquist said.
Bergquist said if he'd had the presence of mind, he should have shut off the kitchen exhaust fan or manually activated the sprinkler system. Stevens said the fire was just too much for the sprinklers to handle.
"When the fire truck got here, he said, 'We're not even going to try to put it out,' " Bergquist recalled.
Instead, fire crews focused their efforts on saving the Bergquists' nearby residence, protecting propane tanks from the blaze and keeping it away from adjacent forest lands, said Jackson County Fire District No. 5 Chief Dan Marshall.
Flames consumed the Bergquists' computers and all their business records, including payroll and event bookings. Redding couple Amber Hall and Ed Blews lost their nuptial site along with the entire wedding party's luggage, Bergquist said.
Callahan's "will take care of people" who had planned special events there, Bergquist said. Deposits will be refunded, and gift certificates will be honored past their expiration date, he said. The lodge was booked for events just about every weekend for the next year, he added.
One of his sons — a construction contractor — will arrive at Callahan's within the week to "figure out what it would take to put it back together," Bergquist said. Although insurance reimbursements will be "tight," the restaurateur said his experience building eateries will help him resurrect Callahan's. A former construction worker, the Eagle Point native said he put up each of the first few Shari's in three months.
One thing Bergquist can't regain is the 1965 building's history.
Retired Ashland police detective Brent Jensen reminisced Tuesday about his carpentry work on the lodge's formal dining room, added in 1979. A generation of Ashland High School kids grew up working at Callahan's alongside sons of the original owners, Don and Nilde Callahan, said Jensen, who visited the site with his mother, Marjorie Jensen.
"(It's) a landmark I'm sure everyone ... hopes will be replaced," she said.
Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail