Lone hotel in Alaskan town of King Salmon burns to the ground

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A fire engulfed the lone hotel in the town of King Salmon on Thursday, turning it into a pile of ash and smoldering wood, officials said.

No one was hurt in the blaze that burned the Quinnat Landing Hotel to the ground. The hotel on the banks of the Naknek River catered to sport fishermen, hunters and tourists en route to bear viewing at nearby Katmai National Park.

Two guests and a handful of employees escaped from the 48-room hotel after the fire started, said owner David McGuire.

The fire engulfed the two-story building amid high winds and despite a steady downpour, witnesses said.

"There was smoke billowing out the windows. It broke out of the roof and then started working its way down to the hotel rooms," said Tiffany McFarland, a part-time bartender at the hotel. "The whole building's gone."

Officials on Thursday said it was unclear how the fire started.

"Nobody has any idea," said McGuire, a doctor, from his office in Anchorage. "It started in the basement. That's all we know."

The hotel offered flying services to well-to-do fishermen hoping to pull trophy salmon and rainbow trout from the Naknek. Services included helicopter flights to secret fishing spots, or plane rides to rivers, lakes and creeks in the Bristol Bay region reached only by air. Summer room rates started at $285.

Quinnat also flew tourists to the volcanic steam vents of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes and to bear viewing platforms in Katmai National Park.

McGuire estimates the hotel, which he has owned since it opened in 1986, was worth more than $2 million. With transportation and construction costs high in the bush, McGuire thinks replacing the hotel will cost about $3 million.

The Quinnat, along with buildings on a former Air Force base, was one of the larger buildings in King Salmon. The Alaska Peninsula community of 420 lies 284 miles southwest of Anchorage and is 35 miles from Katmai National Park.