benjie sanders / arizona daily star

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A fire burned two buildings Friday at a historical North Side lodge that had been closed for more than three years.

The fire destroyed two lodging units in one building and partially burned the restaurant and lounge areas at the Ghost Ranch Lodge on Miracle Mile, west of North Oracle Road, said Capt. Tricia Tracy, a Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman.

Firefighters arrived just after 3:30 p.m. and had the fire under control within a half-hour, Tracy said. About 30 firefighters were at the scene, she said.

The fire caused about $300,000 worth of damage, she said.

Initially, a group of firefighters noticed smoke coming from the property while they were fighting a brush fire in a nearby wash. The firefighters notified other fire units before they moved to the lodge fire, she said.

Investigators determined the fire was human-caused, but there were no signs of forced entry into the property, which is sealed off by a chain-link fence, she said.

The Ghost Ranch Lodge, 801 W. Miracle Mile, closed in 2005 after more than 60 years of operation. It was known for its red-tiled roofs, manicured lawns and its cow-skull sign, the latter designed by legendary artist Georgia O'Keeffe.

The lodge sat empty and was, at one point, to be transformed into low-cost housing for the elderly, but that project did not happen.

The property was sold in 2007, and the new owner had plans to follow through on the project before that plan failed to win a federal low- income-housing tax credit in June, according to Arizona Daily Star archives.