BIG SKY — Friday morning the smell of smoke and soot was still in the air at Big Sky after a fire broke out Thursday night on the third floor of the up-and-coming “One&Only” resort at Moonlight Basin.
“It’s pretty easy to be looking at it in shock,” says Kevin Germain, as he watched the fire scene being evaluated.
A massive fire is what Kevin witnessed Thursday night, at a project he’s been working on for nearly six years.
“I was able to get here within six minutes of seeing the smoke. When I first saw the flames coming out of the third level—I'm not a fire guy, so my first reaction was, ‘Holy crimity, we could be losing the entire structure,’” says Kevin.
WATCH VIEWER-SUBMITTED FOOTAGE OF THE FIRE:
Kevin is the Vice President of Moonlight Basin. For more than 20 years he’s watched the area grow into what it is today. The under-construction resort was to be one of Kevin’s proudest additions to Moonlight, as the first One&Only resort in America.
This project also helped employ hundreds of people. But then the fire broke out.
“We had multiple calls of people, bystanders, reporting smoke showing from the One&Only lodge,” says Seth Barker.
Barker is the deputy chief of operations with the Big Sky Fire Department. He told me first responders were on scene within minutes. They confirmed no one was in the building then instantly initiated their attack on the fire.
“The team did an amazing job. They were super aggressive with getting inside under very terrible conditions. We had zero visibility on the second and third floor when we arrived,” says Barker.
Within an hour, the fire was contained to the two guest rooms where it originated, on the third floor of the west building. But Barker says couldn't have done it alone.
“I would just like to highlight the collaboration between the Yellowstone Club, Hyalite Fire Department, Gallatin Gateway Fire Department, Bozeman Fire, and Central Valley. If those guys hadn’t shown up, we wouldn't have been able to save this structure,” says Barker.
An incredible story of collaboration that not only saved the One&Only but hundreds of jobs as well.
“I’m so thankful that we got people back to work today. You know, we have over 300 workers from around Montana working on this job site each and every day. And I’m thankful they can bring a paycheck back home to their families,” says Kevin.
The One&Only was supposed to open in June of 2025, and that could still happen. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and damages are still being assessed.
But Kevin tells me whatever the damage turned out to be?
“If the whole thing would've burned down? We would’ve just started this morning with plans of starting over and charging ahead. Onward and upward,” says Kevin.
But thankfully it didn’t come to that. So, Kevin wants to extend his biggest gratitude to all first responders involved.
