Fire Destroys Restaurant At Lutsen Mountains Ahead Of Busy ‘Lutsen 99er’

LUTSEN, Minn. — A fire has destroyed Papa Charlie’s restaurant at Lutsen Mountains.

Courtesy: Matthias Orfield

The fire broke out sometime before 5 a.m. Saturday, according to a time stamp on a Lutsen camera.

This fire comes on the same day of the start of a busy weekend with the Lutsen 99er Gravel Bike Race.

“A fire at Papa Charlie’s combine with the start of the Lutsen 99er Gravel Bike Race is causing massive back ups in and around Lutsen. DO NOT travel on Highway 61 near Lutsen at this time. Our thoughts are with all fire crews throughout Cook County who are currently battling the fire,” Cascade Vacation Rentals posted on its social media.

Lutsen Mountains also posted Saturday morning on its social media saying servers and network equipment were housed in the same building as the restaurant.

“…resort communication will be limited until we can get that restored. We will update how this impact operations as we get more information,” the post said.

Publicity photo outside Papa Charlie’s on Lutsen.com

Lusten Mountains also thanked the first responders.

“Sadly, we lost our beloved Papa Charlie’s restaurant today in a fire. We thank the six local volunteer fire departments that responded keeping the fire contained to the Papa Charlie’s building and keeping everyone safe,” according to a post by Lutsen Mountains.