Historic Mackinac Island home owned by doctor, nurse destroyed in fire

A two-story historic clapboard home on the East Bluff of Mackinac Island, overlooking the harbor and filled with a century of memories, is now gray ash and rubble.

“The fire was spotted by a security guard at the Grand Hotel. He saw an orange glow,” Kathryn Kavanaugh Ledtke, of Fort Gratiot, told the Detroit Free Press hours after learning her home had burned to the ground.

Flames shot into the sky before sunrise Tuesday.

Mackinac Island Fire Chief Jason St. Onge posted on the Mackinac Island Fire Department (MIFD) Facebook page on Tuesday:

“At 3:13 this morning (March 15) the MIFD was dispatched to a report of a fire in the vicinity of the East Bluff. Dispatch informed the Chief that the call was from Grand Hotel security guards who see fire near Fort Mackinac. 

“Knowing a fire this size at this time could be catastrophic, Chief St. Onge struck a second alarm for St. Ignace Fire before going en route. The orange glow in the sky was visible from over 1/2 a mile away. Chief arrived on scene to a cottage on the East Bluff and advised that it was a two story single family dwelling that had already collapsed and was totally engulfed. The second alarm was cancelled. MIFD Firefighters began to stretch lines and start to extinguish the fire which had peaked in size probably 45 minutes before dispatch.

The home is a total loss and there was little to salvage. Belonga Excavating was called in to help scoop up the wreck with an excavator so further extinguishment could take place. The occupants were out of town and there were no injuries.

The situation is under investigation but not considered suspicious, the chief wrote.

When asked for a comment, St. Onge referred to his Facebook post. 

Mackinac Island Mayor Margaret Doud, who has been re-elected every year since 1975, said in a statement to the Free Press on Wednesday, “We are saddened by the loss of Crow’s Nest on the East Bluff and mourn the loss with the Ledtke family. I am relieved there were no injuries and that no other cottages on the bluff were affected thanks to our talented and dedicated volunteer fire department.”