SAPPHO — Sam Gaydeski watched his children grow up inside his family’s Sappho Junction store.
In the mornings, an hour into his day behind the counter, his three kids would come through the door for their hug and kiss goodbye before catching the school bus.
In the afternoons, the children would climb a stairway to the store’s small second floor and watch TV until Gaydeski’s wife, Debbie, picked them up after work.
And seven days a week, the regular crowd of locals would stop by for their cup of coffee.
“We built a good little business up,” Gaydeski said Tuesday, a day after fire ravaged the landmark store.
“And it’s gone now. We don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Fire deemed accidental
Clallam County fire investigators have determined the early Monday morning blaze, at the intersections of U.S. Highway 101 and state Highway 113, was accidental.
It does not appear suspicious, Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Velie said.
Velie, Clallam County Fire District No. 2 Assistant Chief Mike Oakes and Port Angeles Fire Marshal Ken Dubuc were unable to safely enter the building for their inspection because it was unstable, but they suspect the fire started in the ceiling or second floor, Velie said.
Its cause is undetermined.
“There was nothing suspicious about the fire,” Velie said Tuesday.
“When the firemen got there, all of the glass was intact, all of the doors were closed and locked, all of the windows were barred,” showing no evidence of outside intrusion.