FIFE, Wash. - A popular tavern known for packing in hundreds of people for dancing and old-time rock-'n-roll was destroyed by a raging fire that broke out early Friday morning.

The total loss stunned patrons, employees, the owners of the tavern and band members who played there. The Firwood Roadhouse tavern, which had a large stage and dance floor that could handle up to 500 people, reportedly had been in business more or less continuously since the 1930s.

"It was a legendary place and now that legend is gone," said Charlie Hollis, a band member with the Great Pretenders, which had called the Firwood home for 14 years in an earlier era and played there as recently as two weeks ago.

The tavern also had recently undergone a major remodeling and had reopened only three months ago.

Firefighters were called to the Firwood, at 8014 Valley Avenue East, just before 5 a.m. and arrived to find the one-story building engulfed in flames.

A cop on his way to work spotted the blaze as he was driving by and reported it. By then, flames already covered the back of the building.

Tom Thompson, Fife police spokesman, said the officer who initially spotted the fire saw nothing suspicious.

"It was just starting to get light so he would have been able to see if anyone was running from the scene or anything, but he didn't see anything," Thompson said.

The roof collapsed, so firefighters had to stay outside, and they were depending on tankers to bring in water because of a lack of hydrants in the area.

As of 7 a.m., the 8,000-square-foot tavern had burned to the ground and crews were still pouring water on the burning rubble.

The owners of the tavern, who bought it about two years ago, said they had done deeply into debt to pay for the recent remodeling. Now they're not sure if the insurance will cover the costs, said co-owner Sunny Hong, who also has two sons about to enter college and had hoped the business would help pay their tuition.

"I can't believe it," she said, tears running down her cheeks.

"I feel bad for the owners and the management because this was their meat and potatoes," said Jason Frazier, head of security at the tavern. "They had a thriving business that people would come to have fun."

The fire also will put the business' 60 employees out of work.

Frazier said the place closed down early Thursday night - at about 11 p.m. - and everyone went home.

"Now I've got to go call everybody that works in my group and give them the news that - no more Firwood," he said.

No one was inside when the fire broke out.

The cause of the fire is not known, and officials with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting with the investigation.

ATF officials told KOMO News that the smoldering remnants of the building are still so hot that they can't get in to investigate. They said they will return on Monday to probe through the ashes for clues to how it started.