Manka's gutted
Revised again 9 pm Thursday Dec. 28, 2006
Click on photos to see enlargement
A
dramatic fire Wednesday morning thoroughly burned Manka's Inverness Lodge
and Restaurant. The 80 year old building was left with portions of walls
without a roof and the contents destroyed. Inverness Volunteer Fire and Marin
County Firefighters were putting water on hot spots until noon.
blank First reports have an oak tree toppled
by high winds hitting several of the rooms. A water heater was hit by
the falling tree. That ruptured a propane gas pipe which ignited. The
propane fire that followed was fanned by high winds and quickly spread
through the wood frame structure. When firefighters arrived the building
was engulfed in flames. Hurrican force winds further hampered firefighters.
No one was hurt in the conflagration. Eight guests had to be evacutated.
blank
Margaret
Grade bought the lodge and restaurant in 1992. Known until then as
Manka's, the restaurant was operated by Milan and Manka Prokupek
and popular for Czech cusine. The Prokupek's bought the buildings
in the about 1956. Grade, kept the name and extensively rehabilitated
the building. She also developed a world-class restaurant featuring
wild game, locally grown organic meat and produce, locally caught
seafood and flamboyant desserts. Grade's menu proclaimed the dinner
would be "wholly composed of foods farmed, fished or foraged
within a half-hour of your table." She was a vocal and early
proponent of West Marin foods.
blank Various dates are given for
the Lodge's construction starting with 1910 to 1917 to 1924. Orginally
built by Nels Johnson and his wife Laurene (aka Johnny) as a hunting
lodge, the enterprise was successful until the depression. Wealthy
and affluent San Franciscans took the narrow gauge North Pacific
Coast Railroad to Pt. Reyes Station followed by a wagon ride up
to Inverness. The Arts and Crafts/Craftsman type lodge and cabins
became world famous under Grade's leadership. The restaurant, a
favorite among foodies, was rated among the 50 best in America
by Food and Wine Magazine. Last year Prince Charles and Camilla
the Duchess of Cornwall stayed at the lodge during their tour of
West Marin.
this is a spaceer line just
to keep the left pic in the right place vertically 
Wild storm cuts electric, downs trees and scatters debris
Volunteer firefighters from Inverness to Tomales were up most of the Tuesday night clearing fallen trees and fighting a dramatic fire. The storm blew itself ashore Tuesday morning and by evening had dropped over an inch of rain in West Marin. By midnight the rain had restarted dumping another half-inch. Winds from the south kept the heavy rainfall in place. By 2 am the wind shifted to come from the north and the rain tapered off. Wind speed and gusts increased. Firefighters were kept busy with a continuous string of emergency calls reporting Highway One blocked or houses struck by falling trees.
Electric power to most of West Marin failed in the early morning hours and was not restored until daylight. Several thousand customers (in PG&E terms that is an electric meter) were without power durning the night.
Wind gusts up to 78 mph were reported at Big Rock at the summit of Lucas Valley Road. The Inverness Ridge weather station reported wind gusts up to 44 mph. The Invernss Ridge reports are incomplete because their power was out from 2 am to 7 am, coinciding with the period of highest wind gusts. San Francisco Airport reported gusts over 50 mph. Gusts over 50 mph were also reported at the Pt.Reyes Lighthouse.
A woman died when gusty winds knocked a tree into a home on Barranca Road in Lagunitas. A huge oak tree crushed her to death when it fell on her cottage.
