Firefighters battled the roaring flames from an aerial truck.

The response by firefighters was also enormous to the four alarm fire at the northern Muskegon County location. Fourteen fire departments from across Muskegon County brought 75 firefighters and 30 pieces of equipment to the scene of the 4:27 a.m. alarm. The Department of Natural Resources was called to suppress fires on the nearby Lake Michigan dunes, and departments from adjoining counties were put on standby in respond to other alarms during the battle.

Overall, firefighters were on the scene at 5207 Scenic Drive for 12 hours, although many of them left during the mop up work.

Management spokesman John Harrington of Hotel Investment Services Inc. said the blaze destroyed 18 guest rooms, a restaurant and outdoor deck, according to an early AP story. The Michillinda Lodge’s website says that families from Grand Rapids in Michigan, plus Illinois and Indiana “built simple, comfortable, two-story cottages” on the shore and named it for the three states in 1902. It later became the county’s only lodging and restaurant facility on Lake Michigan, drawing generations of families to stay for relaxing vacations.