Sussex (NB), Canada – A fire Tuesday evening destroyed the base lodge at Poley Mountain, a ski area located 10 km outside of Sussex.

The building’s alarm system notified authorities of the fire at around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Firefighters arrived on the scene to find flames already piercing the structure’s roof. By the time firefighters from five different departments extinguished the blaze, the C$3 million building was a total loss.

The resort was scheduled to open for the 2014-15 winter on Dec. 19, and the hiring of 180 full and part-time staff had just been completed. Poley Mountain manager Bill Anderson indicates that temporary buildings will be brought in to salvage a portion of the resort’s ski season.

No one was in the building, which houses restaurant and lounge operations as well as ski school, rental and other amenities, when the blaze broke out. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.