Photos provided by Del Norte County Bob Berkowitz.

Del Norte County Supervisor Bob Berkowitz writes:

A fire that broke out about 4 a.m. on Saturday destroyed at least four buildings in Smith River. One bystander noted that it was a “good news bad news” story. The bad news was it was a horrible fire that destroyed several buildings including the old Smith River Hotel and Alta’s Burger Bar. Alta’s Burger Bar had been a fixture in Smith River and had one of the best ratings on Yelp. 

The good news is that it brought out the best in cooperation between fire departments including CERT, the Community Emergency Response Team.

Jeremy Phillips of the Smith River Volunteer Fire Department who was the incident commander, noted that almost every fire department responded, Smith River, Gasquet, Brookings/Harbor, and Crescent Fire were all there and fought the fire in a coordinated fashion.

According to those close to the story, the fire began in the old Hollies Market. As of 10 a.m. Saturday, the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.