Thursday, January 4, 2007
Legacy of Santana Row inferno- Improved communications
Legacy of Santana Row inferno helped speed response to Tuesday blaze.
By John Woolfolk
From the Mercury News:
When part of San Jose's Santana Row shopping center burst into an 11-alarm inferno in August 2002, firefighters from neighboring cities took up to half an hour to arrive.
But subsequent changes in the way local fire departments work together may have helped speed the response to Tuesday's 5-alarm fire in Santa Clara that consumed an apartment building under construction.
The countywide ``mutual aid'' response system in place at the time of Santana Row forced San Jose to summon help from as far away as San Mateo County, contributing to a delayed response. Changes since then allow more firefighters from cities nearest the blaze to lend assistance, with assurance that their own fire stations will be covered by firefighters arriving from cities farther away.
``That was a significant change,'' said San Jose Assistant Fire Chief Nicolas Thomas. ``Post Santana Row, cities that are experiencing a major emergency now have a greater confidence level that when they send all the resources they have to the incident, the rest of their community is going to continue to be protected.''
How much that and other post-Santana Row changes may have affected the outcome of Tuesday's fire is hard to say, acknowledged Dave Parker, spokesman for the Santa Clara Fire Department. But he added that ``every little bit helps.''
Local departments are still working on other improvements promised in the wake of the Santa Row fire, such as a radio system that lets officers and firefighters from departments with different radio frequencies talk to each other. A test begins this year, but for now, San Jose, Santa Clara and other cities keep spare radios to give to firefighters arriving from other cities.
With flames shooting high into the air from an unfinished luxury apartment complex, Tuesday's fire evoked memories of Santana Row from witnesses and firefighters alike. Yet in many ways, Santana Row was vastly different. San Jose's biggest fire consumed multiple buildings on a hot, dry, breezy August afternoon, requiring a massive response and causing more than $100 million in damage.
Tuesday's Santa Clara fire on a chilly, damp afternoon burned just one unoccupied building and demanded only a five-alarm response, similar to other recent fires in the city. The destroyed building would have been worth $25 million when completed, Parker said.
The plume of flame and smoke from Santana Row sent embers raining down on the Moorpark neighborhood half a mile away, destroying an apartment building with a wood-shake roof and leaving dozens homeless.
That certainly was on firefighters' minds Tuesday as they scanned surrounding neighborhoods where charcoal briquette-sized embers were spotted. But firefighters were aided in keeping Tuesday's fire from spreading by the weather and by the tile roofs on neighboring buildings.
Santa Clara firefighters are still investigating the cause of the blaze. They planned to stay overnight Wednesday at the scene making sure smoldering debris did not reignite.
The 42 Santa Clara firefighters who responded to the blaze were joined by a total of 48 firefighters from San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Milpitas, Palo Alto, Gilroy and Santa Clara County.
Santa Clara County was able to dispatch firefighters under the updated mutual aid protocol so they would be available either to help the city firefighters with the blaze or to be available for other local emergencies, said Steven Staump, Santa Clara County Fire's deputy chief of operations who oversees mutual aid.
At the time of Santana Row, each fire department pledged fewer firefighters for mutual aid out of concern that they would be leaving their own cities unprotected.
Local officials still are working on improving radio communication among public safety officials from different jurisdictions so that police, firefighters and city officials can communicate with one another. That became a national concern after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
San Jose, Santa Clara County and Milpitas fire departments are testing a radio interoperability system this year that will let officers from different cities communicate, said Staump.
Coincidentally, a report released Wednesday by the Federal Department of Homeland Security gave San Jose and surrounding cities, including Santa Clara, high marks for the ability of their emergency agencies to communicate during a disaster.
While the San Jose area won praise for having regional procedures in place and for communicating across a wide swath of agencies, the area's grade was lowered because it has yet to put fully interoperational systems in place.
For now, cities like Santa Clara have taken advantage of federal grants to buy extra radios to hand out to firefighters from other cities so they can all talk on the same frequency. That was put into effect during Tuesday's fire.
``I think it worked out very well,'' Parker said.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Apartment building destroyed in fire
CONSTRUCTION SITE BLAZE KEPT FROM SPREADING; NO ONE HURTBy Leslie Griffy
Mercury News
Photo by Nhat V. Meyer / Mercury News
Mercury News
A four-story luxury apartment house being built in Santa Clara caught fire Tuesday, spewing embers over a dense residential area and stirring memories of the 2002 construction-site fire at Santana Row that set a nearby apartment complex ablaze.
While no other structures caught fire -- including four on the same lot also under construction -- flames four stories high grabbed the attention of passersby and neighbors, who watched crews fight the fire for more than two hours.
Emergency workers combed the neighborhood near Moreland and Fitzpatrick ways, searching for embers on rooftops and other combustible surfaces. Chunks of burned wood, the size of small pieces of charcoal, crunched under foot as firefighters walked on Moreland. The charred pieces were scattered as far as a block from the blaze.
It's unclear what sparked the fire, Santa Clara Fire spokesman Dave Parker said, but crews are investigating. The fire was contained at 7:23 p.m., with firefighters remaining on the scene to take care of hot spots.
Construction crews working on the fifth floor of a nearby building saw flames in a corner of the roof, framer Gabriel Ventura said.
``Our first instinct was to call 911 and give them our location,'' he said. ``Then we ran.''
The workers scrambled down a fire escape they had built not long before, he said. No one appears to have been injured in the blaze, officials said.
Santa Clara fire crews arrived at 1:57 p.m., three or four minutes after the blaze was first reported, Parker said. They quickly trained four extension-ladder hoses on the buildings adjacent to the construction site, Parker said, a lesson emergency crews learned in the wake of the Santana Row fire in 2002.
The shopping center also was under construction when the 11-alarm blaze erupted. Embers from the fire, lofted over Interstate 280, landed on a nearby apartment building, destroying 34 units and displacing 70 people.
The blaze, San Jose's biggest, spurred officials to update Santa Clara County's ``mutual aid'' plan, a bid to speed firefighters' deployment to major fires. San Jose fire officials also devised a way for dispatchers to instantly know which cities to call for help and how many crews each city can commit.
``It's still fresh in our minds,'' Parker said, noting that some of the firefighters at Tuesday's blaze probably helped fight the Santana Row fire.
He also credited that experience with the decision to quickly call for backup. By 2:12 p.m., 15 minutes after firefighters first arrived, they upgraded the blaze to five alarms and asked for help. Crews from San Jose, Santa Clara County, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Milpitas arrived to help fight the fire.
The fire destroyed the structure, one of five that make up a 430-unit condo-and-apartment project owned by Prometheus Real Estate Group. The structure was surrounded by scaffolding, but it was not yet wrapped in drywall or fire-proofing material. By 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, only the skeleton of the lower floors remained. Wood planks could be seen through the smoke, falling to the ground.
The Prometheus Web site lists the project as condominiums, but a representative at Prometheus' San Mateo office said the structure that burned was to be rental units, scheduled to begin leasing in March.
The project's Web site boasts of two of the tallest buildings in the immediate area, offering ``spectacular views of the Santa Clara and San Jose areas.''
One of those buildings, a seven-story structure only feet away from the one that caught fire, was saved, Parker said, after crews had trained their hoses on it. A construction worker said the taller building had recently been wrapped with yellow fire-proofing.
``It's amazing,'' Parker said. ``Everything in there is combustible.''
Homeowners across the street, however, didn't seem too worried. They gathered to take pictures and watch fire crews at work.
``There were really big flames,'' Ville Nieminen, who lives nearby, said while checking out the fire. ``But it doesn't seem like it will spread.''
Daniel Ullman said he spotted the flames as he drove to the nearby Rivermark shopping center and decided to take pictures.
``You see stuff like this on TV,'' he said. ``I just never thought I'd ever see anything like it in real life.''
FIRST RESPONDER TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
FIRST RESPONDER TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
-
Nice Spanner wrench with holder.
Posted: 02 Jan 2007 03:01 PM CST
Spanner and Wrench Holder
$84.99Item# K453
Spanner and Wrench Holder, includes (1) Style Hydrant Wrench and (2) Spanner Wrenches with Holder.
Kocheck Spanner and Wrench Holder w/ 1 Style Hydrant Wrench and 2 Spanner Wrenches w/ Holder
Looks to be a very nice set!
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Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program Deadline
Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program
Application Deadline: Jan. 12, 2007, 5 p.m. EST
Application Deadline: Jan. 12, 2007, 5 p.m. EST
Public Safety Grants:
Before You Apply, Go through the FP&S Applicant Tutorial »
Kurt says: "If you haven't already gone through the FP&S Applicant Tutorial, stop now and go through it! Before applying for FP&S, make sure that you understand how this year's program is different from last year's. Also, this year's tutorial is much more comprehensive than previous efforts, and every applicant can benefit from taking the time to go through the tutorial.
Cost share requirement for fire departments participating in this grant. The matching dollar requirement is the same as for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant: 5-10-20%, depending upon your population. See the Program Guidance for more information »
Additionally, there is new, stronger language in the Program Guidance regarding the need to have conducted and documented a proper "formal or informal risk assessment" or "vulnerability assessment". Those applications that do not include a proper risk assessment will undoubtedly be denied.
For full details, eligibility requirements and application guidelines, go to the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program homepage »
Application Deadline: Jan. 12, 2007, 5 p.m. EST
Sponsor:
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US Fire Administration (USFA), Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
What is it?
The Fire Prevention and Safety Grants fund projects related specifically to fire prevention. Fire departments as well as national, regional, state or local organizations with expertise in fire prevention are eligible to apply for these grants.
The program's primary goal is to reach the identified high-risk target groups including children 14 years old and under, seniors over the age of 65 and firefighters. Under authorizing statute, the emphasis for these grants is the prevention of fire related injuries to children.
This program is a separate part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program that will award over $550 million to firefighters this year to help local fire departments purchase equipment, fund health and safety programs, enhance emergency medical services programs, and conduct fire prevention and safety programs.
Fire departments that have received or applied for training, equipment, vehicles, etc. under the FY 2006 Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program are eligible to apply for the fire prevention grants in this application period. However, funding to any organization is limited to a maximum $1,000,000 Federal share per program year according to your population. If a fire department received funding through the FY 2006 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, the total of that award plus the FY 2006 Fire Prevention grant cannot exceed your maximum allowable Federal share amount according to your population.
Links to help with your Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program application: ***
- Grant Training from CHIEF Grants
- CHIEF Grants Grant Resources
- Kurt's Tips for a Stronger FP&S Narrative
- USFA Report: Nearly 5,000 Children and Seniors Injured or Killed in Residential Fires in United States
- Online Application
- Program Guidance (from USFA-FEMA)
- Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program Homepage
- FAQ (from USFA-FEMA)
- US Fire Administration (USFA)
- Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP, from ODP, DHS)
- Get a DUNS Number (from 10/1/2003, all Federal grantees MUST obtain a DUNS number)
- OMB Circulars
 Fire Safety Trailer for Hazard FD, Kentucky |
Nice Spanner wrench with holder.
Spanner and Wrench Holder
$84.99
Item# K453
Spanner and Wrench Holder, includes (1) Style Hydrant Wrench and (2) Spanner Wrenches with Holder.
Kocheck Spanner and Wrench Holder w/ 1 Style Hydrant Wrench and 2 Spanner Wrenches w/ Holder
This would make Nice addition to the water Tender
This would make Nice addition to the water Tender
Monday, January 1, 2007
Fire board president restrained by court order
SACRAMENTO
Fire board president restrained by court order after threat allegation
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District obtained a temporary restraining order against its own board president after he allegedly threatened the general counsel and other employees in a drunken telephone tirade.
Under the order granted Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, Peter Engellenner was prohibited from attending a Thursday board meeting where directors were scheduled to vote on electing his replacement.
That vote was postponed after three directors left the meeting, leaving too few board members for the process to continue.
Richard Margarita, the fire district's general counsel, said in court documents that Engellenner was ``extremely intoxicated"'' during a Dec. 7 phone call and threatened Margarita, his legal team and a district investigator.
The employees of the district are now guarded by armed sheriff's deputies.
Fire board president restrained by court order after threat allegation
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District obtained a temporary restraining order against its own board president after he allegedly threatened the general counsel and other employees in a drunken telephone tirade.
Under the order granted Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, Peter Engellenner was prohibited from attending a Thursday board meeting where directors were scheduled to vote on electing his replacement.
That vote was postponed after three directors left the meeting, leaving too few board members for the process to continue.
Richard Margarita, the fire district's general counsel, said in court documents that Engellenner was ``extremely intoxicated"'' during a Dec. 7 phone call and threatened Margarita, his legal team and a district investigator.
The employees of the district are now guarded by armed sheriff's deputies.
TEXAS LODD - Firefighter Phillip Townsend
Firehouse.com News
Firefighters in Denison, Texas are mourning the loss of a colleague.
Firefighter Phillip Townsend, 31, was killed Saturday while battling a fire at an appliance store.
Townsend and Fire Chief Gordan Weger were hit and buried after an awning collapsed without warning, according to published reports.
Both were transported to Texoma Medical Center in Denison where Townsend was pronounced dead. Weger was released after treatment.
Townsend, the father of three, had been with Denison Fire Department for the past 13 months.
INCIDENT COMMANDER CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER
DECEMBER 23 -- SPOKANE, WA: In what's probably the first case of its kind, federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Forest Service employee Ellreese Daniels with manslaughter and lying to investigators in the wake of the fatal Thirtymile Fire in 2001 in north-central Washington.
Daniels, 46, was the incident commander on the fire on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and the 11-count criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane says Daniels was "grossly negligent" in supervising firefighters on the fire. Four of them died and several others were injured.
If convicted, Daniels could spend six years in prison, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Hopkins said that's unlikely because Daniels has no criminal record. According to a Seattle Times story, his attorney, Tina Hunt, said the charges are without merit.
The 70-page complaint was filed by John Parker, a special agent of the USDA Office of Inspector General. In it, Parker states that Daniels supervised firefighters under his command "in a manner that was grossly negligent ... in wanton and reckless disregard for human life." He charges that the circumstances of the fire should have caused Daniels to foresee that his conduct might place the lives of firefighters in danger, and that that was the proximate cause of their deaths.
In numerous other counts of the complaint, Parker states that Daniels knowingly and intentionally made false and fictitious statements and representations concerning his conduct while supervising firefighters on the fire.
After the fire, an OSHA investigation determined that Forest Service supervisors had violated all ten of the Standard Fire Orders and cited the Forest Service for several willful violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Forest Service Safety & Accident Investigation Team concluded that the fatalities were preventable and that a combination of human errors and conditions in the Chewuch River canyon that day caused the loss of life. The agency said the primary errors were the failure to withdraw the crew from the canyon when initial attack failed, which resulted in their entrapment, and the failure to ensure that the crew properly deployed shelters on the best available site.
"The consensus of experts is that all four deceased firefighters would have survived if they deployed on the road near the other crew members," says the complaint.
After the investigations, the Forest Service proposed administrative discipline and removed Daniels from the fire program. He now works at a supply cache in East Wenatchee.
The case has been referred to a grand jury, which will meet next month to decide whether to issue an indictment against Daniels.
Daniels, 46, was the incident commander on the fire on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and the 11-count criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane says Daniels was "grossly negligent" in supervising firefighters on the fire. Four of them died and several others were injured.
If convicted, Daniels could spend six years in prison, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Hopkins said that's unlikely because Daniels has no criminal record. According to a Seattle Times story, his attorney, Tina Hunt, said the charges are without merit.
The 70-page complaint was filed by John Parker, a special agent of the USDA Office of Inspector General. In it, Parker states that Daniels supervised firefighters under his command "in a manner that was grossly negligent ... in wanton and reckless disregard for human life." He charges that the circumstances of the fire should have caused Daniels to foresee that his conduct might place the lives of firefighters in danger, and that that was the proximate cause of their deaths.
In numerous other counts of the complaint, Parker states that Daniels knowingly and intentionally made false and fictitious statements and representations concerning his conduct while supervising firefighters on the fire.
After the fire, an OSHA investigation determined that Forest Service supervisors had violated all ten of the Standard Fire Orders and cited the Forest Service for several willful violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Forest Service Safety & Accident Investigation Team concluded that the fatalities were preventable and that a combination of human errors and conditions in the Chewuch River canyon that day caused the loss of life. The agency said the primary errors were the failure to withdraw the crew from the canyon when initial attack failed, which resulted in their entrapment, and the failure to ensure that the crew properly deployed shelters on the best available site.
"The consensus of experts is that all four deceased firefighters would have survived if they deployed on the road near the other crew members," says the complaint.
After the investigations, the Forest Service proposed administrative discipline and removed Daniels from the fire program. He now works at a supply cache in East Wenatchee.
The case has been referred to a grand jury, which will meet next month to decide whether to issue an indictment against Daniels.
National Fire Report - Every friday
National Preparedness Level 1
(On a scale from 1 to 5)
Current hours for the National Fire Information Center are
(MST) 7:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday
208-387-5050
December 22, 2006
Wildland fire activity continues to be light at the end of 2006 with 274 new fires reported. Four new large fires were reported: three in Kentucky and one in Arizona. These large fires were also contained the week of Dec. 22.
Weather Discussion: Dry conditions and moderate to strong northeast winds are predicted for today through Saturday in southern California into the lower Colorado River Valley. Winds are expected to decrease on Sunday. Offshore winds will return in California by mid next week.
Weekly Statistics 12/22/06
Number of new large fires 4
States currently reporting large fires:
Number of active large fires 0
Acres from active fires 0
Number of Wildland Fire Use (WFU) fires 0
Number of Wildland Fire Use (WFU) acres 0
Fires contained the week of 12/22/06 4
Year-to-date large fires contained 1,237
Year-to-date Statistics
2006 (1/1/06 - 12/22/06) Fires: 96,147 Acres: 9,830,521
2005 (1/1/05 - 12/22/05) Fires: 65,440 Acres: 8,640,504
2004 (1/1/04 - 12/22/04) Fires: 65,510 Acres: 8,087,515
2003 (1/1/03 - 12/22/03) Fires: 63,269 Acres: 3,959,223
2002 (1/1/02 - 12/22/02) Fires: 73,423 Acres: 7,182,979
2001 (1/1/01 - 12/22/01) Fires: 83,965 Acres: 3,569,673
2000 (1/1/00 - 12/22/00) Fires: 92,437 Acres: 7,395,219
5-Year Average
2002 - 2006 Fires: 76,019 Acres: 7,530,417
Source: National Interagency Coordination Center
Current Wildland Fires
Arizona Number of fires: 0 Acres: 0 New fires: 1 Fires contained: 1
NEW Curly Horse (Tucson District, Arizona State): The fire was contained at 1,562 acres.
Kentucky Number of fires: 0 Acres: 0 New fires: 3 Fires contained: 3
NEW Aones Creek (Kentucky Department of Forestry): The fire was contained at 518 acres.
NEW Jacks Branch #3 (Kentucky Department of Forestry): The fire was contained at 175 acres.
NEW Seminary (Daniel Boone National Forest): The fire was contained at 110 acres.
This report will be updated on Fridays while fire activity continues.
For another source of daily national wildland fire information see the National Interagency Coordination Center.
(On a scale from 1 to 5)
Current hours for the National Fire Information Center are
(MST) 7:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday
208-387-5050
December 22, 2006
Wildland fire activity continues to be light at the end of 2006 with 274 new fires reported. Four new large fires were reported: three in Kentucky and one in Arizona. These large fires were also contained the week of Dec. 22.
Weather Discussion: Dry conditions and moderate to strong northeast winds are predicted for today through Saturday in southern California into the lower Colorado River Valley. Winds are expected to decrease on Sunday. Offshore winds will return in California by mid next week.
Weekly Statistics 12/22/06
Number of new large fires 4
States currently reporting large fires:
Number of active large fires 0
Acres from active fires 0
Number of Wildland Fire Use (WFU) fires 0
Number of Wildland Fire Use (WFU) acres 0
Fires contained the week of 12/22/06 4
Year-to-date large fires contained 1,237
Year-to-date Statistics
2006 (1/1/06 - 12/22/06) Fires: 96,147 Acres: 9,830,521
2005 (1/1/05 - 12/22/05) Fires: 65,440 Acres: 8,640,504
2004 (1/1/04 - 12/22/04) Fires: 65,510 Acres: 8,087,515
2003 (1/1/03 - 12/22/03) Fires: 63,269 Acres: 3,959,223
2002 (1/1/02 - 12/22/02) Fires: 73,423 Acres: 7,182,979
2001 (1/1/01 - 12/22/01) Fires: 83,965 Acres: 3,569,673
2000 (1/1/00 - 12/22/00) Fires: 92,437 Acres: 7,395,219
5-Year Average
2002 - 2006 Fires: 76,019 Acres: 7,530,417
Source: National Interagency Coordination Center
Current Wildland Fires
Arizona Number of fires: 0 Acres: 0 New fires: 1 Fires contained: 1
NEW Curly Horse (Tucson District, Arizona State): The fire was contained at 1,562 acres.
Kentucky Number of fires: 0 Acres: 0 New fires: 3 Fires contained: 3
NEW Aones Creek (Kentucky Department of Forestry): The fire was contained at 518 acres.
NEW Jacks Branch #3 (Kentucky Department of Forestry): The fire was contained at 175 acres.
NEW Seminary (Daniel Boone National Forest): The fire was contained at 110 acres.
This report will be updated on Fridays while fire activity continues.
For another source of daily national wildland fire information see the National Interagency Coordination Center.
Fire at California Lodge
Friday, December 29, 2006
AP
Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal Flee Fire at California Lodge
INVERNESS, Calif. — A fire destroyed a Northern California lodge popular with celebrities, abruptly halting holiday vacations for brother and sister Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal and a dozen or so other guests.
The fire at Manka's Inverness Lodge (link) began around 3 a.m. Wednesday after a tree fell and hit a water heater, and there were no injuries, authorities said.
Co-owner Daniel DeLong said the Gyllenhaals were supportive despite having to brave the wind and cold.
"Jake was helping me pull things out of the fire," DeLong said.
The Marin County lodge and its restaurant were a popular destination for VIPs. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, dined at Manka's last year.
It was not clear whether Maggie Gyllenhaal's months-old daughter, Ramona, was with her, or whether other family members had joined the siblings at the lodge.
Messages left with Jake Gyllenhaal's agent and his sister's publicist were not immediately returned.
Jake Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as a heartsick cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain."
Official Manka's Inverness Lodge website statement:
There's been a fire at Mankas
The rooms in the main lodge and the restaurant
are closed until further notice.
OUR CABINS, ANNEX AND BOAT HOUSE ARE ALL OPEN AND AVAILABLE.
Please call us 669-1034
and leave a message and we'll get back to you
as soon as we can. Thanks for your understanding.
Margaret Grade, Owner/Chef, Mankas Inverness Lodge
AP
Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal Flee Fire at California Lodge
INVERNESS, Calif. — A fire destroyed a Northern California lodge popular with celebrities, abruptly halting holiday vacations for brother and sister Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal and a dozen or so other guests.
The fire at Manka's Inverness Lodge (link) began around 3 a.m. Wednesday after a tree fell and hit a water heater, and there were no injuries, authorities said.
Co-owner Daniel DeLong said the Gyllenhaals were supportive despite having to brave the wind and cold.
"Jake was helping me pull things out of the fire," DeLong said.
The Marin County lodge and its restaurant were a popular destination for VIPs. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, dined at Manka's last year.
It was not clear whether Maggie Gyllenhaal's months-old daughter, Ramona, was with her, or whether other family members had joined the siblings at the lodge.
Messages left with Jake Gyllenhaal's agent and his sister's publicist were not immediately returned.
Jake Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as a heartsick cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain."
Official Manka's Inverness Lodge website statement:
There's been a fire at Mankas
The rooms in the main lodge and the restaurant
are closed until further notice.
OUR CABINS, ANNEX AND BOAT HOUSE ARE ALL OPEN AND AVAILABLE.
Please call us 669-1034
and leave a message and we'll get back to you
as soon as we can. Thanks for your understanding.
Margaret Grade, Owner/Chef, Mankas Inverness Lodge
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