FORKS — A landmark in Forks was destroyed in an early morning fire today in a blaze considered suspicious.
The old Olympic Theatre, 25 E. Division St., was consumed by flames starting at about 3:30 a.m., said Clallam County Fire District No. 1 Chief Phil Arbeiter.
“This is under investigation as a suspicious fire,” Arbeiter said.
Electrcity to the building had been turned off, Arbeiter said.
He said the cause was unknown. The fire did not spread to nearby structures.
“The team did a super job protecting the exposure of the fire to other buildings,” the fire chief said.
The building, which has been unused and boarded up for years, was less than 20 feet from the building on Forks Avenue that houses Chinook Pharmacy and Peninsula College.
A bookkeeping business is about the same distance on the other side of the building, Arbeiter said.
One window in the larger complex on Forks Avenue had a vinyl window, which began to melt and then cracked, but that appeared to be the only damage to any other structures, Arbeiter said.
Although the building appeared to burn from the rear of the building, the exact origination of the fire is not yet clear, Arbeiter said.
“We are still working on the investigation,” he said.
