Fire Guts Island Landmarks
Winds Fan 3-Alarm Blaze That Devastates 2 Solomons Restaurants

By William Wan and Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 16, 2006

A three-alarm fire fueled by fierce winds battered downtown Solomons Island yesterday, largely destroying two of the island's landmarks, the Lighthouse Inn and Bowen's Inn.

Fire investigators think the blaze started at Bowen's Inn at 12:30 p.m. and quickly spread to the Lighthouse Inn, a condominium, two boats and a dumpster.

It took two hours for 68 firefighters and a pair of tugboats with hoses to extinguish the flames. As the fire burned, black smoke spread over the island, a small strip of land at the southern tip of Calvert County where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay.

Damage is estimated at $2.5 million.

Fire investigators were not sure last night what caused the blaze. They said that 45 mph winds made the flames difficult to tame.

The winds and dry weather were a concern across the region, with the National Weather Service having issued a "red flag" wildfire alert for Virginia, the District and much of Maryland.

"If it weren't for those tugboats, the wind was so bad we could have been looking at the lower part of the island going up in flames," said Solomons Volunteer Assistant Fire Chief Charles Nava.

Both Bowen's Inn, operating since 1918 and the last of the island's old-style inns, and the Lighthouse Inn, a restaurant known for giving Thanksgiving dinners to the needy, were gutted.

County Commissioner Gerald W. Clark, who owns a store a few blocks away, teared up at the sight of the billowing smoke.

"It's a sad day; it's heartbreaking," Clark said. "We're a family down here, and this is a big loss."

Richard Fischer, owner of the Lighthouse Inn, looked at the charred remains of his restaurant yesterday as he stood a few feet from the yellow caution tape. People walked up to offer condolences as if somebody had died.

After he finished college, Fischer, 52, designed the restaurant himself, with its three dining levels overlooking the harbor or the Patuxent River. He turned it into an anchor establishment along the Solomons Island waterfront.

"I had no money when I built this," said Fischer, noting that Monday was the restaurant's 21st anniversary. "I put my sweat and blood into it."

When he first saw the fire, he grabbed a hose and ran down the island's one main street, Solomons Island Road, thinking he could extinguish it. As he approached, he knew it was too late.

"I realized there was nothing I could do but sit there and watch it," he said.

The restaurant was a community gathering place that frequently held fundraisers. The focal point of the restaurant's interior was its bar, made in the shape of a one-third scale skipjack, the workboat of the Chesapeake Bay. The skipjack bar was designed and built by the late James Leroy "Pepper" Langley, a local master craftsman.

The other restaurant that was destroyed was part of Bowen's Inn. The inn part of the structure appeared to be intact yesterday.

Bowen's is on the water and has a large deck, and its inexpensive rooms are popular with charter boat customers. It is owned by Joan Simmons, who lives at the inn.

Alice Hall, 68, who was born and raised on the island, said Bowen's restaurant was a "must stop" place for boat travelers and had a crab imperial dish "to die for."

Solomons Island is a community that prospered as a fishing village at the beginning of the 20th century with active oyster- and seafood-packing houses and busy boatyards.

In recent decades, Solomons has emerged as a recreational boating, sailing and fishing center as well as a popular destination for weekend tourists.

Staff writer Tom Lansworth contributed to this report.