GH newlyweds survive honeymoon fire

Sat, Sep 26, 2009    to del.icio.us

Grand Haven newlyweds Nick and Katie Gudelsky recently had a honeymoon that they never expected.

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While celebrating their marriage Labor Day weekend in the town of Au Train in the Upper Peninsula, the cabin that they rented started on fire in the middle of the night while they slept.

"Luckily, a neighbor saw the flames and pounded on our door to wake us up," Katie said. "When we got out of our room, the whole front of the cabin was already gone."

Fortunately, the couple's bedroom was detached from the living area in an addition added to the garage. "That's the only thing that saved us, and the awesome neighbor/angel from God," Katie said.

The Gudelskys said they were fortunate enough to have placed their kayaks by the water earlier and taken their laptop computer out of their car before they went to bed. But they lost the rest of their belongings — including their food, clothes and sport utility vehicle.

"I had my keys and said, 'I need to move my car,'" Katie recalled. "And the neighbor said: 'Sweetheart, your car is going to blow up any second,' and pointed. Then I realized my car was completely engulfed in flames and we watched it explode."

Thanks to the kindness of the people of Au Train, the Gudelskys were able to salvage the rest of their honeymoon. The Au Train Motel put them up for free on the night of the fire, a neighbor drove them an hour to get a rental car in Marquette, the Country Inn and Suites in Marquette let them stay for free in their deluxe honeymoon suite, and one of the firemen let them stay for free in his cabin on Au Train Lake.

"There was a tremendous amount of love and help from these people," Katie said. "It was amazing to me that they were so kind to complete strangers."

Katie said authorities believe the fire started because of an electrical problem in the cabin.