The Candy Cottage in Rochester was damaged by a fire Thursday morning.
Fire investigators are inspecting the electrical system in Meagan’s Candy Cottage in Rochester, the first step in an investigation into what caused an early-morning fire Thursday that extensively damaged the building, said Lt. Lanette Dyer, of the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.
Dyer said there is no indication of foul play.
A passerby called 911 at 5:55 a.m. Thursday after seeing smoke in the building in the 9900 block of U.S. Highway 12 in Rochester.
When fire crews arrived, they found the circa-1900 building full of smoke.
“It was really super charged at that point,” Dyer said. “They couldn’t gain initial entry to the building. Those older buildings don’t ventilate as well.”
Dyer said the building’s solid-wood walls didn’t let the smoke vent.
“It almost acts like a chimney,” she said.
Crews cut holes in the roof to vent some of the smoke, and then were able to fight the fire inside the building.
“The outside doesn’t look so bad but the inside is gutted,” Dyer said.
Dyer did not have an estimate for the monetary value of the damage.
