Falling Trees And Fire Intrude Upon A Quiet Gyllenhaal Christmas
Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, along with Frances McDormand and husband Joel Coen, were slumbering at a Marin County inn when a tree crashed into it early yesterday morning, igniting a fire and sending its guests—both celebrity and non—fleeing for their lives. Reports the Marin Independent Journal:
An early morning fire Wednesday at Manka's Inverness Lodge, apparently triggered when a tree crashed into the back of the structure, destroyed the main building and its world-famous restaurant where Prince Charles dined last year.
Academy Award-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal and his sister, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who vacationed there frequently, were among the dozen or so guests forced to flee into the wind and rain at about 3 a.m. No injuries were reported, but several dozen employees may be out of work.
"From my perspective, it looks like a total loss of the main lodge and the restaurant," said Marin County Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Giannini.
None of the actors were available for comment. But Daniel DeLong, a co-chef/owner with his partner, Margaret Grad, said they were helpful and concerned about the historic lodge.
"Jake was helping me pull things out of the fire," DeLong said. [...]
DeLong said they were coming off a great Christmas where he cooked grits for not only the Gyllenhaals, but actress Frances McDormand and her husband Joel Cohen, a filmmaker whose credits include "Fargo," "The Big Lebowski" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
It's a sad turn of events for the inn owners, who may be able to rebuild, but who have now suffered irreparable damage to the "secret A-list celebrity hideaway" status they have enjoyed for years. Still, we were hardly surprised to hear Señor Dreammuffin, aka Jake, selflessly put himself in harm's way to help out his hosts, even if it might have been mildly guilt-induced after Fire Department Battalion Chief Giannini trotted up to the lodge-owners holding up a scorched cashmere sock in one hand and the charcoal remnants of a wooden garden chime in another, saying, "Here's your problem right here, see."
