Nobody hurt in LeBear Resort fire; restaurant Blu closed indefinitely

Photo by Angela DeWitt of Leelanau Vacation Rentals shows Leelanau County fire departments working together to put out the blaze. This photo shows a Leland fire truck with water pulled from Lake Michigan and a ladder truck from Glen Lake Fire Department.

From staff reports

A fire broke out early Saturday morning, before 4 a.m., in a unit on the east side of LeBear Resort. Nobody was hurt, but the resort located at the north end of Lake Street in Glen Arbor suffered substantial damage.

Blu, the restaurant attached to LeBear, was not affected by fire or water damage, but co-owner and chef Randy Chamberlain announced on Facebook yesterday that he will be closed indefinitely until utilities are restored.

“This comes obviously at the worst possible time,” wrote Chamberlain.

“[Friday] night we just had our busiest day since reopening in April. The optimism of the pandemic waning, our staff was building with some fabulous people who have been through so much. … We all feel broken but we’ll be back.”

Chamberlain thanked the emergency crews from Glen Lake Fire Department and five other departments and heralded their efforts to contain and save the building. Other restaurants in Glen Arbor stepped up to help, too.

“Thanks to Tim and his staff at Art’s Tavern for lending us cold storage space and all the other restaurants and friends in our town that have reached out to offer help.”

Kari Beitler wrote on Instagram that she was walking the shoreline of Sleeping Bear Bay early Saturday morning to take photos of the Aurora Borealis northern lights when she saw the fire and ran down the beach to knock on doors and ask someone to call the fire department. In the process, she dropped her Nikon camera in the sand.

“My little lungs hurt from coughing all night,” she wrote, “but [I] managed to bang and scream until everyone was awake and safe.”

View Kari’s photos below: