John Matthews
WMAL.com

ROCKVILLE — Montgomery County’s oldest roadhouse bar suffered major damage early Wednesday, as a porch fire at Hank Dietle’s Tavern destroyed much of the century-old building.

County Fire Spokesman Pete Piringer told WMAL the fire was first reported by a bypasser at around 2:45 am. It took upwards of 75 firefigthers nearly an hour to put out the fire, which started on the porch – most likely by a discarded cigarette which had smouldered, and then burned for sometime before it was noticed.

Piringer says there was significant damage throughout the building, which had opened as a service station in 1916, and had been a well-loved neighborhood watering hole since the 1950’s.

There were no injuries in the fire. Piringer says it caused at least $500,000 in damage.

Update (~245a) 11010 Rockville Pike, Hank Dietle’s; Cause, accidental, discarded smoking materials; Area of Origin, front porch (exterior); Damage, Total $500K, incl $400K bldg, $100K contents; no injury; ~65 FFs OS; passerby called 911 pic.twitter.com/0chCSLR0tZ

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) February 14, 2018

Copyright 2018 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services/Pete Piriniger/Twitter)