POULSBO — Even though the Poulsbo Fire Department responded in less than three minutes to the Mitzel’s fire Tuesday morning, it wasn’t quick enough.

“We had two strikes against us by the time we arrived on scene,” said PFD Deputy Chief of Operations Tom O’Donahue.

When the fire was first reported at 2:05 a.m. smoke was already spewing from the building, O’Donahue said.

A minute later, another passerby reported that it was “starting to go pretty good,” he said.

Firefighters were on the scene in 2 minutes and 37 seconds and a team led by PFD Lt. Justin Zeigler made entry into the building with large hoses in an attempt to extinguish the blaze, he said.

The team used 2 1/2-inch hoses and had an effect on the fire before the building began giving way and the team was forced to take a defensive position, he said.

“He heard the building creak and made an excellent call to get his team out of the building,” O’Donahue said.

The apparent cause of the fire, which is still under investigation, was an aluminum pot of butter that was left on a stove and melted under the intense heat, said PFD Chief Jim Shields.

“What’s left looks like two steel handles and a steel ladel in it,” Shields said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco — which Shields said was in the area — has also probed the scene and has substantiated the PFD’s investigation.

“What it looks like at this time is that it appears to be an accident,” Shields said.

O’Donahue further explained how the pot could have caused the fire, even though the stove had a splashguard to keep heat from penetrating the kitchen walls. The metal splashguard had seams, which flexed due to the heat on the stove, and allowed the fire to escape up the walls and into the attic and other hidden spaces in the building, O’Donahue said.

During the course of its investigation the PFD found that the building lacked both smoke detection and sprinkler systems, which could have limited the damage caused by the fire, O’Donahue said. Even so, Shields said neither was required by the building codes at the time the building was erected.

“The building was up to code and was maintained to code,” Shields said.

Because smoke detection and sprinkler systems were lacking, the fire wasn’t noticed until a passerby saw smoke coming from the building, O’Donahue said.

The fire was similar to the Sept. 20, 2005 Kingston Inn fire, which destroyed the popular eatery owned by Michael Prestley. Neither building had a smoke detection or sprinkler system.

“(At Mitzel’s) a smoke detection system would have notified 911 when the smoke developed and the damage might have been limited to the kitchen,” he said.

It can be expensive to properly install a sprinkler system or smoke detection system in an existing building, but having them can prevent incidents like the Mitzel’s blaze, O’Donahue said.

“We’re encouraging everyone to contact a vendor and we can provide names,” Shields said.

Business owners should also contact their insurance companies to find out what incentive the companies will provide if they install smoke detection or sprinkler systems, he said.

“From a business standpoint they need to ask can I afford a fire?” Shields said.