by Richard Uhlhorn
Saturday’s controlled burn of the iconic Apple Cup building was a bittersweet day for the Petersen family.
“It was our first home in Chelan,” said a sad Diane Petersen. Larry and Diane purchased the building in 1996 and settled in to becoming restaurant owners, living in an apartment in the back of the building.
Over the years, the Apple Cup Café has served thousands of hungry customers and formed a loyal following, many of whom turned out to watch Chelan Fire and Rescue conduct a training session for firefighters from Chelan, Manson, Orondo, Entiat and Waterville. “It is an important training ground for us,” said Assistant Chief Shawn Sherman.
Chelan Fire Chief Brandon Asher said, “Shawn did an outstanding job conducting this training. He had help from Manson’s Training Officer, Ranor Baker,” stated Baker. Asher said he told Sherman that the operation was all his to conduct.
Firefighters drag charged fire hose into the building while a firefighting team wait their turn at fighting an interior fire..
Firefighters spent several days preparing for the burn, installing over 200 pallets to help. Firefighters went inside and started fires in each of nine areas for training purposes until Sherman handed Ryan Petersen a lit flare to throw into building starting the final burn.
As the fire began to rage, firefighters used various water hoses to keep the surrounding area cool and to prevent the fire from spreading beyond the building’s footprint
Learning the ins-and-outs of battling structure fires is an important function for firefighters to learn. The Petersen’s donation of the building provided regional districts an actual structure within close proximity to other structures gain knowledge for battling future events.
Over 45 personnel were involved in this training and hundred’s of residents turned out to watch the iconic building go down in flames to be resurrected as a new café in approximately one year.
After the burn was completed, the Petersen’s fired up the BBQ and fed all the firefighters and others who wished to eat hamburgers and hotdogs with chips and drinks.
In the meantime, the Apple Cup Café lives at the Lake Chelan Community Center on Bighorn Way. They are open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. serving up customer’s favorite dishes. “We aren’t making any money, but we are keeping staff employed,” said Petersen in an earlier interview.
The Petersen’s also plan on continuing the annual Thanksgiving Day feast they have become famous for. More information on that event will be forthcoming.
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