Timberline Lodge ablaze the shining
Photo via Clackamas Fire department 

Iconic Hotel From 'The Shining' Catches Ablaze As Firefighters Work To Contain Fire

Blame it on the ghosts, but the iconic hotel from the movie The Shining has caught ablaze. Firefighters worked hard to contain the blaze and preserve the hotel. While it's called the Overlook Hotel in the film, the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, Oregon is a real hotel with no ghostly apparitions.

According to The Oregonian, the hotel set ablaze at (;30 p.m. on April 18. Local authorities confirmed the blaze. They wrote on social meida, "Firefighters are on-scene of a 3-alarm commercial fire at the historic Timberline Lodge. Crews are working to extinguish the fire. No injuries reported."

Several fire crews arrived to try to put out the blaze, with their combined effort saving the hotel. "The fire at Timberline Lodge was declared under control at 11:12 p.m.," the Clackamas Fire department confirmed on X (formerly known as Twitter).

One guest described to the outlet the blind panic that guests were in. Alarms were ringing, and everyone had to evacuate the facility. "There were people in bathing suits coming inside, and they said they saw embers on the roof," they said."People looked a bit freaked out. Nobody was running. Some were getting their bags packed and rolled them out as they left."

Fortunately, firefighters contained the fire to just the roof and attic. The fire didn't spread to any of the rooms or any of the other parts of the building.

"The fire was kept to the roof & part of the attic, & didn't spread any further. Crews are clearing the scene," a statement confirmed. "The U.S. Forest Service will be conducting the investigation with the help of federal resources."

Hotel Featured In 'The Shining'

Timberline Lodge famously stood as the exterior of The Overlook Hotel for the 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's book. It's history that they're also proud of, documenting it on their website.

A message on the lodge's website reads, "The 1980 cult-classic film The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, used aerial shots of Timberline as part of its opening scene. Film of the exterior of Timberline Lodge was used for some establishing shots of the fictional Overlook Hotel throughout the movie."

However, visitors should note that id doesn't actually have a hedge maze like in the film. The website explained, "Several other shots in the film which purport to show the lodge, such as those of the hedge maze and loading dock, were taken at Elstree Studios in England, using a mock-up of the south face of the lodge. [Director Stanley] Kubrick was asked not to depict Room 217 (featured in the book) in The Shining, because future guests at the lodge might be afraid to stay there."

It continued, "So a nonexistent room, Room 237, was substituted in the film. However, Room 217 is requested more often than any other room at Timberline. Rest assured, Timberline is not haunted!" the website states.