A kitchen grease fire touched off a blaze that heavily damaged a Centre Hall landmark yesterday and kept firefighters battling for hours to bring it under control.

No one was injured, and opinions varied on whether the structure was a total loss. But what was not destroyed by the fire was left saturated by water damage.

The fire at Mt. Nittany Inn, state Route 144, ignited at about 1 p.m. as one of the owners was cooking for the restaurant's lunch crowd.

After trying unsuccessfully to put the blaze out with a fire extinguisher, firefighters were called and the building was evacuated.

Forty to 50 firefighters from 10 companies fought the blaze until finally bringing it under control at about 5 p.m., Centre Hall Assistant Fire Chief Chad Packer said.

"Flames were coming through the roof when we got here," Packer said.

The building is located on the crest of Mount Nittany summit, and Packer said changing winds and the inability for firefighters to get into the building safely accounted for the stubbornness of the blaze.

"This is our biggest fire we had in the last year and a half or two years," Packer said.

The fire closed traffic along the highway for about three hours, he said.

The inn was built circa 1926 and had recently been renovated by the current owners to include 10 bed and breakfast rooms, a restaurant and lounge, and meeting rooms.

"It's a pretty sad day," said Nancy Collins, one the inn's four owners, as she and her daughter salvaged what they could from the building by loading antiques and artifacts into the trunks of their car.

"We're just in shock," Collins said.

She said while the building was insured, she was not sure whether they would rebuild on the site.

"It depends on the structure and what's left," Collins said. "How can you rebuild something so old?"

The inn was a popular meeting place and attracted people from as far away as Harrisburg, she said. There were a lot of good relationships formed at the inn among customers, waitstaff and owners, she added.

"I think it held a lot of special memories for people," Collins said. "It was a comfortable place and people kind of liked it because it was comfortable."

Scott Floray, president of Centre Hall Fire Company and Rescue, said owner Ed Hill, who was cooking when the fire broke out, thanked the firefighters for all their efforts to salvage the building.

Hill said he was not ready to talk about the fire.

Floray said he does not see the owners giving up on the site.

"I have an idea they'll probably rebuild and keep going," he said.