Update: The story has been updated with new information from a Homer Volunteer Fire Department press release sent Friday morning.

Firefighters from multiple agencies tackled a blaze that engulfed the old Bay View Inn on Thursday afternoon.

Located near Mile 170 Sterling Highway just below the Baycrest Overlook, the inn closed in 2011 after its owner, former Homer City Council member Dennis Novak, died.

First responders from the Homer Volunteer Fire Department attacked the fire with several personnel around 1:45 p.m. on Thursday. They had help from Anchor Point Emergency Services and Kachemak Emergency Services when mutual aid was called in.

According to a press release on Friday from the Homer Volunteer Fire Department, no injuries were reported and the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. The first firefighters on scene found smoke and fire coming from two rooms in the building. They extinguished most of the active fire and then worked to make sure it did not spread to adjacent rooms.

The Bay View Inn stopped operating after Novak died. The establishment ran into problems after his death due to the fact that, when Homer incorporated, the area it occupied became zoned “rural residential,” and commercial businesses were no longer allowed there. The inn had been granted nonconforming use, but lost the status when the inn was closed for more than 12 months while Novak’s estate was being settled.

The council did extend the period to 24 months for when a nonconforming use could be discontinued before going back into business with grandfathered rights.

According to Kenai Peninsula Borough online tax records, the property is assessed at $202,200.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Reach Megan Pacer at mpacer@homernews.com.

Firefighters douse a blaze that engulfed the old Bay View Inn on the Sterling Highway near the Baycrest Overlook on Thursday, March 7, 2019 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

A fire blazes in the old Bay View Inn on the Sterling Highway near the Baycrest Overlook on Thursday, March 7, 2019 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer)

A fire at the old Bay View Inn near the Baycrest Overlook on the Sterling Highway sends a plume of smoke into the air Thursday, March 7, 2019 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)