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It was a wedding reception they'll be talking about for years. As a local bride and groom prepared to dance the night away, fire forced everyone to abandon the party.
Radisson hotel staff evacuated more than 400 guests Saturday evening. The three-alarm fire damaged about half of the rooms. Investigators say it started between the roof and ceiling and may have been electrical.
As flames shot out from the roof of the Radisson around 7:15 p.m., newlyweds Trey and Robyn Kunkel had no choice but to take their wedding party outside.
"You don't ever want to forget something like this. Not that you could. Hottest wedding in town," said Trey Kunkel.
It probably wasn't the burning passion the Mechanicsburg couple had in mind when they decided to tie the knot.
"So we're standing in the dark with the candles lit on the table and we're like, oh gee, the power's out. This is great," said Robyn Kunkel.
On a day you'd expect to see lots of white, dozens of surprise guests showed up wearing yellow and black.
"We had our photographer come and get some of the fire behind us to add to our wedding pictures. It was exciting," said Trey.
The Kunkels were concerned their family and friends may have been burned out of their rooms. Turns out they were staying in another wing of the hotel. No staff members or guests were injured.
"Couldn't be a better bunch of people to be stuck in a fire with," said Trey.
As you might have guessed by now, the newlyweds wanted to make the best of the situation. They weren't seeing red; just looking for an opportunity to have some fun.
"We jumped on the back of the truck too and had the hats on. It was great," said Robyn.
It was a wedding day that will spark laughter and talk for many, many years to come.
"It's perfect actually. It's perfect," said Robyn.
No word yet on the dollar amount of the damage. The Radisson was open Saturday, but an entire wing remains closed for cleanup and repair. We're told as many as 90 rooms may be damaged.
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