BIRD IN HAND, Pa. — Monday morning’s explosion at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn in Leacock Township shocked and shook the small Lancaster County community of Leacock Township.
“It was a pretty loud bang and it kind of shook our whole house," Sasha Uttley said. "Everything inside was shaking."
Sasha has lived less than a mile from the inn her entire life. She says it’s one of the most popular destinations people stay at when visiting.
“Bird-in-Hand is actually a pretty well-known place," Sasha said. "When tourists come here, this is where they [go]."
It's been less than one year after a fire devastated the Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn in Strasburg Township.
"The hospitality sector represents 20,000 jobs, and last year we had 9.8 million visitors," Discover Lancaster President & CEO Edward Harris said. "It definitely has an impact on the tourism economy."
Harris expects a similar response for Bird-in-Hand across the county.
"Whenever we have some sort of devastating event, the entire community and hospitality community will rally behind them and make sure they have a strong comeback," Harris said.
Sasha believes the same holds true in the hands of her community.
"Everyone in Bird-in-Hand usually comes together as a community and, as you can see, helps out, rebuilds and everything like that," she said. "I just hope nothing like this ever happens again."
Members of the Discover Lancaster team say that the Inn typically closes for cleaning and maintenance each year the week before Christmas, meaning very few people were actually in the building this morning.
State police are looking into the initial cause of the incident.
Bird-in-Hand owners announced on their website that all locations, like the bakery, cafe, and smorgasbord, closed Monday because of the fire; they have not said if they'll reopen Tuesday.