Fire damages Reelfoot's Airpark Inn, future uncertain

Reelfoot Lake State Park's Airpark Inn, pictured before a fire in one of its buildings forced the facility to be shut down. [Click to enlarge]

The fire originated in one of the cluster buildings at the inn. This included four rooms and a suite. This section is referred to as A-unit.

One hour prior to the fire, a fire alarm at the inn sounded causing a park ranger and the Lake County Sheriff's Department to respond. The initial investigation of the scene found no evidence of any fire. The alarm was then reset.

Unit A of the Airpark Inn burns during the evening of Nov. 20. Fire crews from Tiptonville, Ridgely, Samburg and Hornbeak responded to the fire to extinguish its flames. [Click to enlarge]

The alarm then went off again approximately one and a half hours later. The Tiptonville Fire Department responded to the fire along with the fire departments from Ridgely, Samburg and Hornbeak.

Tiptonville Fire Chief Tommy Corum estimated there were around 30 firefighters and seven pieces of equipment on scene helping extinguish the flames at the inn.

"It was on fire all over," said Corum referring to the unit when they arrived.

"We had to lay down a lot of hose to reach the fire," said Corum.

Firefighters were able to get water from one hydrant and used a portable dumping pool that was refilled by the pumpers getting water from another hydrant down the road. The portable dumping pool holds between 2,000 and 3,000 gallons of water and is used when water us scarce at a fire, allowing pumper trucks time to get more water.

Also, another fire was caused by the embers falling onto dry brush beneath the unit causing firefighters to deal with it too. "Since there wasn't any water under it, the embers got into the dry stuff underneath and caused that fire," said Corum.

Firefighters brought the fire under control and left the scene around 2 a.m.

"It was a long, cold night," said Corum.

Some small fires remained, but didn't pose a problem. "They were small fires we just couldn't get to," said Corum.

There were no injuries during the fire and no guests were in the units that were on fire. One guest was on the premises at the time of the fire. She and another couple were the only registered guests at the inn. The one guest was relocated to the motel in the Spillway area of the park.

"We do not know the origin of the fire at this time because the investigation is ongoing by both the state fire marshal's office and the insurance company," said Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Information Officer Meg Lockhart. "Without too much speculation, initial findings lean toward the cause being electrical in origin -- but again, that is still under review. Investigators will continue to be on site and make additional observation when the demolition process takes place."

It is likely that members of the Tennessee State Parks Department will be meeting with Environment and Conservation Division of Water Pollution Control at the site of the inn prior to its demolition. They will ascertain if any environmental requirements or considerations should be taken into account before the demolition.

The Airpark Inn, located along the north side of Reelfoot Lake, opened in the 1970s and is where the Bald Eagle and Waterfowl Tours depart from. The tours are from early January until early March.

The Airpark Inn was shut down in 2001 while Gov. Don Sundquist was in office. The inn was then reopened in January of 2004 under Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration. The inn is made up of three cluster buildings, totaling 20 rental units.

According to the TDEC, the inn operates on funds appropriated by the state and is not self-sustaining in its revenue. In numbers released by the TDEC, there were 10,808 rooms rented at the inn from 2004 through 2008.

There are two pending capital projects from 2004 and 2007 totaling over $3.7 million for the Airpark Inn for repairs and upgrades.

Engineering reports have determined the concrete foundation/platform of the complete facility, including the walkways, to be significantly degraded. It is also believed that future infrastructure needs could be cost prohibitive due to "environmental requirements, the unique design and location of the facility and the nature of the existing structure itself."

"Except for required needs, we have been hesitant to expend maintenance money at the facility due to these pending capital projects," said Lockhart.

The Airpark Inn is currently closed to visitors and guests. "We do not have an answer at this time on when the inn will reopen," said Lockhart.