After devastating fire, owners of Cass Lake Lodge near Bemidji rebuilding main lodge

Jody and Jason Ball were asleep on Sept. 12, just after the busy summer season at Cass Lake Lodge had ended, when their older son burst in and woke them up. The nearly 100-year-old main lodge at their family resort was on fire.

"You're expecting a small fire," Jason Ball said. "We rounded the corner, and it was not a small fire. It was hard to watch and not be able to do anything."

"Watching 20 years of your life go up in flames," Jody Ball said.

The fire burned until morning, but Cass Lake volunteer firefighters — with the help of firefighters from nearby Bemidji — were able to contain the blaze to the lodge and one adjacent seven-bedroom cabin. The other 14 cabins and 63 campsites on their 40-acre resort were spared.

The next day, the family set out to rebuild. An outpouring of community support — family, friends and local contractors — helped the family toward an ambitious goal: To reopen the Mega Cabin by fishing opener on May 11, and reopen the lodge by Memorial Day.

Jason Ball's father had bought the resort in 2002, moving from Montana to realize a lifelong dream. Jason and his brother helped their dad run the resort, and Jason met Jody around a campfire there. The Balls purchased the resort from Jason's dad in 2016.

At 16,000 acres, Cass Lake is one of Minnesota's largest, notable for the only "lake within a lake" in the northern hemisphere — a 200-acre lake on Star Island. Cass Lake is connected to the Mississippi River, so boats can traverse to nearby lakes. Its location, mostly within Chippewa National Forest, means it's a rare Minnesota lake where the shoreline is largely wooded and private, without many large lakeside houses. It's a fishing hub; Jody's record walleye was 28 ¹⁄₂ inches long, though family fishing time is limited since they're busy with guests.

Most of the Balls' guests are repeat customers. The Balls love seeing the generations change — kids who spent summers vacationing there now bring their children.

After the fire, the Balls and firefighters went through rubble to save some items. The new lodge will feature some charred keepsakes from the old lodge including a carved wooden bear and signs that are burnt but still legible.

"It won't have that old character — that's what we'll miss the most, a lot of that old wood," Jody Ball said. "Trying to bring that old lodge feeling back into the new lodge will be the hardest thing. But you only get one chance to rebuild your dream lodge. We're taking that a little slower to make sure we get it correct."

For Christmas, the Balls went to the Florida Keys with family. It was an especially poignant holiday, reminiscing about memories and giving thanks for those who've supported them since the September fire.

On the resort's website is a tool that counts down to the 2024 Minnesota fishing opener. It doubles as a deadline for when the rebuilt Mega Cabin will reopen, with the lodge to reopen a few weeks later. On the day they returned from Florida, the ticker was at 134 days.