Letter from the General Manager
On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 5, the beautiful summer season in Breckenridge was interrupted by the Peak 2 Fire. The fire was reported at about 11:00 a.m. by a mountain biker who observed smoke in the area. Firefighting teams immediately responded, but had to hike for about an hour before they reached the scene. In the meantime, a team of smoke jumpers had been dispatched and arrived at the fire around the same time as the ground crew.
At the time, Summit County had seen very little precipitation, with the most notable moisture falling as snow several weeks prior. These dry conditions, along with patches of trees infested by mountain pine beetles, enabled the wind to spread the fire quickly. For a period between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m., the fire spread in the general direction of Breckenridge and made for some stunning photographs. Although the residential neighborhood of Peak 7 was placed under an evacuation order, we are pleased to share that none of the Breckenridge Grand Vacations family of resorts were affected by the evacuation.
Nonetheless, the team at Grand Timber Lodge leapt into action, following our Wildland Fire Evacuation Plan to notify our guests and protect our beautiful resort. Immediately, guests noticed an uptick in irrigation as the sprinklers around the property were activated to increase the relative humidity around the resort. Housekeeping scoured the resort to close as many windows as possible to decrease the possibility of smoke damage, and engineering prepared to shut down any mechanical systems as needed. The Front Desk team, as you might imagine, began receiving phone calls and worked to answer as many questions as possible as we received pertinent information.
Just after 4:00 p.m., we were blessed by a complete shift in the wind. The wind shift, coupled with efforts from the firefighting team, pushed the fire back onto itself and nearly halted the spread of it. At that time, the fire had burned about 82 acres in the Miner’s Creek drainage along the Peaks Trail. Continued cooperation from the weather and incredible work from a Type 1 Incident Team contained it to just 84 total acres.
As we’ve looked back at the events of that day, we have identified learning opportunities and ways to update our emergency plans. We will be looking for additional ways to make information available to our owners and guests, who may not be familiar with the local emergency communication system. We thank all our owners and guests for their cooperation during this stressful experience and hope that they were able to resume enjoying their vacations!
Aside from the excitement of the Peak 2 Fire, here is what has been going on across the resort:
- The Front Desk has introduced a new paperless check-in process. This helps to save paper and eliminates back-end redundancies. Better yet, you can complete the entire registration card prior to your arrival by following a link sent in the confirmation email a week before you arrive!
- New lamps have been installed in all living areas, completing the upgrade of the living room furniture.
- The wall near the indoor hot tub of Building 5 received a new stone veneer. The repair fixed the damaged stucco and it looks fantastic!
We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how to make Grand Timber Lodge a better place for you and your family. You may always send ideas to jstuhr@grandtimber.com for considerations!
Josh Stuhr
General Manager, Grand Timber Lodge
Sure would like to see the hot tubs move away from bromine.