By Kathryn Reed

With occupancy only at 35 percent for the long holiday week, the people who had planned to stay at the Mountain Club at Kirkwood won’t be severely inconvenienced.

All of those guests and the ones staying in the condos Monday night are sleeping elsewhere because of a fire that started about 10:20pm.

It started May 23 on the third floor in or around one of the units, according Michael Dalzell, spokesman for Kirkwood Mountain Resort. He said the unit with the most damage was not occupied at the time.

Several units in the nearly 50-unit complex had extensive water and smoke damage. The cause of the fire is not known.

Kirkwood fire officials did not immediately return calls. They were assisted by East Fork and Lake Valley firefighters.

Dalzell said it took several hours before the fire was put out.

Those who were evacuated were located to other lodging at the resort. There were no injuries.

The Mountain Club is a freestanding building in the village that operates on a one-eighth ownership.

Underground parking connects the entire village. This is where the ticket office is, Monte Wolfe’s and the high-performance demo center. Water damaged those businesses as well, according to Dalzell.

However, none of those businesses were expected to be open this weekend.

There is no estimated cost of the damage. A date was not given when some of the units will be able to accessed and/or used.