On Thursday night, Izak Hamilton received a historic message on his cellphone.
The Clackamas Fire public-information officer was in his Sandy home, enjoying a root-beer float and playing a board game with his wife, their three kids and his oldest daughter’s boyfriend.
He set down his drink, turned away from the game and looked at the message at about 9:30 p.m. It told him Clackamas firefighters were responding to a report of a commercial fire on Timberline Road.
“I asked myself how many commercial buildings are really on Timberline Road,” he recalled. “None. Until you get to the lodge at the top.”
Then his cellphone rang. It was a battalion chief in the department, who confirmed that Timberline Lodge was on fire.
“When I heard that I thought of some words I can’t say out loud,” said Hamilton, 47, who has been with the department for a decade. “That lodge is part of Oregon’s history.”
It’s part of Hamilton’s family history, too.
“It’s one of our favorite places,” he said. “My dad worked there when he was a kid. He did maintenance and janitorial work. Our family has been going there forever.”
The massive ski lodge, a National Historic Landmark, was built in 1937 on the south slope of Mount Hood at 6,000 feet elevation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated the Works Progress Administration project on Sept. 28, 1937.
More than 86 years later, Hamilton left his home in a department-issued vehicle, traveling with family memories and his awareness of what fire could do to the grand wooden structure.
“I just wanted the fire stopped,” he said. “We needed to save one of the symbols of who we are in Oregon.”
Hamilton arrived at a chaotic scene and quickly took in the activity, the firefighters from various area departments hustling, working hard.
“Guys from all departments rolled up their sleeves,” he said. “A well-organized mission. No one was standing around.”
Hamilton soon learned that, before the firefighters arrived, the heroes were a couple of lodge employees.
“They took the initiative,” he said. “They have hose racks that are part of the building, part of their fire-suppression system. They were up in the attic trying to stop and slow down the fire.”
Hamilton felt relief when on-scene commanders reported the fire had been contained to the roof and attic, and that it soon would be completely extinguished.
The extent of the damage to the building is not yet known; the insides of the lodge were soaked during the battle to stop the flames. The U.S. Forest Service is leading the investigation into the cause of the fire.
Hamilton arrived home at 2:30 a.m. Friday, exhausted, emotionally as well as physically.
“I’ve been on some big fire calls,” he said. “Technically, this wasn’t big. But this is one call I will never forget.”
Timberline Lodge
-- Tom Hallman Jr. is a member of the public safety team. Reach him at 503 221-8224; thallman@oregonian.com