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Nahma landmark destroyed by fire

NAHMA — A fire destroyed the main building of the Upper Peninsula Golf and Lake Resort, formerly known as the No Nah Ma Resort, in Nahma early Thursday morning, but the business that has been a staple of the community will continue to operate.

“It’s gone. I don’t even know how to put it into words,” said Paula Brown, manager for the resort.

It was around 12 a.m. Thursday when Brown got the call that the resort’s main building, the historic sawmill for the Bay de Noquet Company the town was founded around in the 1800s, was on fire. The 20,000-square-foot building, which contained a variety of historical items related to the community as well as three apartments, was completely destroyed.

“This is an irreplaceable — not only to my boss but to the community. This building was such a historical part of Nahma,” said Brown.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fire was still smoldering.

“It’s still burning. The building was built with a wood floor and then at some point in time they put a concrete floor overtop of the wood floor, so all that wood is still burning,” said Brown.

Individual firefighters watched the smoldering rubble in shifts throughout the day Thursday in case the fire flared up again. According to Brown, more volunteer firefighters were expected to come to the resort in the evening, after they got off work from their day jobs.

No one was quite sure what started the blaze. Brown said firefighters at the scene told her it was unlikely they would ever know.

The resort is not slated to open until May 1, and maintenance workers were just beginning the work of getting the resort open for the summer. Since the resort was still closed, all three of the apartments inside the building were unoccupied and no one was inside the building when it ignited.

For the time being, Brown has forwarded the resort’s phone number to a cell phone so reservations can continue to be made for other areas of the resort.

“We will continue to operate. We will be putting an office in because we do have a 50-site campground here and we have six cabins that we rent. So we will continue to operate,” said Brown.

The fire comes almost exactly two years after another Nahma landmark tied to the Bay de Noquet Company was destroyed. On April 19, 2019, the waste burner for the company — which disposed of the excess material from the sawmill — collapsed only a few years after a grassroots effort was started to preserve the burner. Prior to its fall, engineers had inspected the structure and determined it was too dangerous to renovate.

The resort is owned by Carlton Johnson, an Escanaba native, who now lives in Colorado. Johnson also owned the burner prior to its collapse.

Thursday’s fire affected another local business, albiet indirectly. The neighboring Nahma Inn, which is a separate business but located near the resort, was inadvertently named as the site of the blaze by many on social media. The bar, restaurant and hotel took to Facebook Thursday to quell the rumors and express support for the neighboring resort.

“Due to miscommunication/uncertainty we wanted to say it was NOT the Nahma Inn that burned down last night. Our heart goes out to the people of no-Nahma resort (located behind the Nahma inn) As they endure the tragedy of losing something Nahma has held close for so long. We would also like to thank the Nahma township fire and rescue, along with all other fire departments and volunteers who took part in handling the fire. Our little town appreciates all of you!” the Nahma Inn wrote.

The fact the community has lost a landmark is not lost on Brown. While she and Johnson are looking to the future and how to move forward, for the moment, they’re mourning what has been lost.

“It’s sad. I loved the building. It was so unique. I mean, it was just something,” she said.

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