PORT ANGELES — The New Peking Restaurant and Lounge on U.S. Highway 101 in the Gales Addition section east of downtown burned to the ground early this morning in a spectacular blaze that took four hours to knock down and blocked the highway for several hours.
Cause of the fire at 2416 Highway 101 is not yet known, but fireworks were a possibility, said Capt. Dan Huff of Clallam County Fire District No. 2.
Restaurant employees who were in the building at the time the fire started told firefighters that the blaze began outside, high in the flat-roofed building, Huff said.
Firefighters from three departments — Fire District Nos. 2 and 3 and Port Angeles city — responded to the blaze at about 3:20 a.m., and had the flames out about 7:20 a.m., Huff said. Because Gales Addition is in unincorporated territory east of the Port Angeles city limit, Fire District No. 2 is the lead firefighting agency in the blaze.
Firefighters continued spraying water on hot spots until about 9 a.m.
The fire was large and difficult to fight, because of the way the building was constructed, and because of the flammable materials inside, Huff said.
There were no injuries to firefighters or employees.
The painted dragon murals on the outside of the building, done about 10 years ago by Port Townsend artist James Mayo, were destroyed.
By 11 a.m. all four lanes of Highway 101 were open, but traffic remained slow in front of the scene of the fire, State Patrol spokesperson Trooper Krista Hedstrom said.
All lanes were blocked until about 8:40 a.m., when three lanes — two westbound and one eastbound — were opened, the state Department of Transportation said. During complete closure, motorists were detoured into Gales Addition, causing a backup that extended beyond the Morse Creek “S” curve about a mile east of the fire.
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What are your memories of the building, not just as the New Peking Restaurant and Lounge, but when it was Henry Yee’s Restaurant before that — and especially when it was the Top Spot bar and dance hall? Please email your recollections to arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com or phone her at 360-417-3535. Arwyn is preparing a piece on the history of the building for Wednesday’s editions.
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