Fire destroys Port Clinton restaurant
3/21/2010PORT CLINTON — Authorities are investigating a large fire that destroyed a restaurant in Port Clinton Saturday night.
The blaze at the Port ‘N' Starboard restaurant in the 100 block of W. Perry St. took firefighters from five departments several hours to put out.
No one was injured and the restaurant was closed at the time of the fire.
Firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after 5:20 p.m., after a passerby reported seeing smoke coming from the restaurant. They stayed until 3 a.m.
Port Clinton Fire Chief Kent Johnson said high voltage electric lines in and around the building complicated the task of putting out the fire. Firefighters waited 45 minutes to an hour for Ohio Edison to cut the power supply before they could tackle the blaze, Chief Johnson said.
Smoke from the fire could be seen from as far away as Tiffin, the chief said. He described the building as 'gutted'.
It's not yet clear what caused the fire. The State Fire Marshals office is investigating, chief Johnson said.