Fire breaks out at Oregon hotel featured in 'The Shining'

An inferno erupted at the historic Oregon hotel featured in Stanley Kubrick’s famous horror flick “The Shining,” officials confirmed early Friday.

The three-alarm fire broke out late Thursday night in the attic of the Timberline Lodge, called the Overlook Hotel in the 1980 classic starring Jack Nicholson.

Firefighters across multiple agencies — including those from Hoodland, Clackamas, Gresham and Estacada — were called to the hotel and ski resort around 9:30 p.m., after employees spotted the flames, according to a post on X from the Clackamas Fire Department. They battled the blaze for hours before confirming it was “under control” by 11:12 p.m.

A spokesperson for the Lodge told The Oregonian that the fire was completely extinguished before midnight, adding that crews continued to douse the building with water afterward to keep it saturated amid high winds.

No injuries have been reported in connection with the flames. All guests and staff at the hotel, located about 60 miles east of Portland, were safely evacuated and have since been accounted for.

“The fire was kept to the roof and part of the attic, and didn’t spread any further. Crews are clearing the scene,” the Clackamas Fire Department said online. “The U.S. Forest Service will be conducting the investigation with the help of federal resources.”

While a cause for the fire has yet to be determined, John Burton, marketing director for the lodge, speculated it could have been the result of embers from the chimney blowing in the wind.

Preservationists were also called to the scene and could be seen taking artwork and furniture — drenched in the fire-fighting effort — out of the building, which was constructed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration. It was designated as a national historic landmark in 1977, and it is one of Oregon’s most popular tourist attractions.

Timberline Lodge became a pop culture fixture after the late Kubrick used it for exterior shots in his 1980 film,“The Shining,” which was based on Stephen King’s book of the same name.

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