Firefighters with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department were called to downtown Winslow after someone reported the smell of smoke just before 1:30 a.m. Monday, but there’s no clear indication the source of the smell was related to the fire at The 122 Bar and Restaurant.

The popular bar was destroyed by fire early Monday. Authorities said residents nearby started to call 911 to report the blaze at the restaurant at 4:40 a.m.

Bainbridge Island Fire Marshal Luke Carpenter said the earlier smoke call came in the 200 block of Parfitt Way, which is about a block away as the crow flies. The caller reported smelling the odor of burning paper.

Larry Droguett was awake with his son to watch a lightning storm as it passed over the island around 1 a.m. Droguett lives across the street from The 122.

“My son smelled smoke at 1:30 a.m.,” Droguett said. “Some people over at the Seabreeze (on Madison Avenue), they smelled some smoke, too.”

A short time later, a fire truck then drove down Madison Avenue, Droguett said.

Emergency responders searched the area but found nothing, Carpenter said.

“They actually did three laps around; down Parfitt, up Grow [Avenue]. They couldn’t find the smell; they couldn’t find anything,” he said.

Whether the early reports are related to the fire at The 122 is not known, Carpenter said.

“Whether or not there is a relation or not, we don’t know,” he said.

At approximately 4:40 a.m. Droguett awoke to the sound of “crackling” and “popping.”

As he looked up to his window, he could see orange light reflecting through his blinds.

Droguett then ran to his balcony where he could see flames on the roof of The 122. He immediately called 911 and watched as fire trucks arrived and combated the blaze over the next few hours.

“They eventually got a hose on it and another hose, but by then the whole building was engulfed in flames,” Droguett said.

The fire investigation continued through Monday, and Winslow Way next to The 122 was reopened to traffic before noon.

A steady stream of onlookers stopped by the blackened building to take photos on smart phones or talk about the fire with other passersby.

“Such a shame,” one elderly woman said repeatedly, shaking her head as she started at the gutted structure.