LOUDONVILLE — The restaurant at Landoll’s Mohican Castle tourist resort burned to the ground Sunday morning. None of the other buildings in the complex, which were spread out at a distance, were threatened. The castle is located at 531 Hanover Township Road 3352, less than a mile inside Ashland County from the Knox County line.
The Loudonville Volunteer Fire Department received the alarm from the property owners at 9:19 a.m. Assistant Fire Chief Mike Carey, who was the incident commander, said the large frame building was completely involved when his department arrived on the scene.
Carey said he called in the Ashland County Arson Task Force and the Ohio State Fire Marshall to investigate the origin and cause of the fire; he did not elaborate beyond that. Loudonville called on five other fire departments for mutual aid in fighting the fire.
Water was available from a pond at the Judson Hill Camp Ground about 1 1/2 miles from the scene. Capt. Brian Durbin of the Eastern Knox County Joint Fire Department said only a water tank truck was requested from his department. Durbin said he and another firefighter took the department’s 2,800-gallon truck and hauled six loads of water to the scene.
The other departments were Lakeville, Perrysville, Hayesville and Worthington Township at Butler. Carey said 19 men in his department answered the alarm with a tanker, two engines, a rescue unit and squad. He estimated 50 firefighters total who responded, along with equipment from the other departments. Nine water tankers shuttled water from the pond. There was plenty of water, and several fire trucks — with dozens of yards of hose lines strung around the restaurant — pumped it to the scene.
Carey estimated the loss at $1 million. There were no injuries among the firefighters. The Ashland County Red Cross was on scene with food and drinks. The department secured from the scene at 6:30 p.m.
