Restaurant fire under investigation

Dec. 11--It took fire crews 20 minutes to get the Monday night fire at the Emperor of India Thai King restaurant under control, but it will take investigators more time before they can determine where and how the fire started.

Fire investigators entered the structure to begin the on-scene investigation Tuesday around 3:30 p.m., but the investigation was postponed until today after the sun went down. Police and fire crews were on site again Tuesday night to guard the scene as they did Monday night and through the day Tuesday.

The fire that began around 10 p.m. Monday gutted the restaurant on the 800 block of Main Street in downtown Lewiston, causing the remaining structure to be unstable, which delayed investigators entering the burned building to determine the origin of the fire.

Investigators with Lewiston fire and police departments, the Idaho Fire Marshal's Office, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene Tuesday to begin the investigation.

Main Street in the area of the fire was closed while firefighters fought the blaze. It was reopened up to New Sixth Street by 9 a.m. Tuesday and the north lane was reopened at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The south lane remained closed on the 800 block of Main Street.

Fire crews from Lewiston, Clarkston, Wheatland and Clearwater Paper faced heavy fire and smoke coming from every window on the Main Street side of the business when they arrived at the scene of the fire Monday shortly after 10 p.m., a news release said. Crews were dispatched to a "possible explosion with fire" at the restaurant.

"It had a pretty good head start on us," Battalion Chief Ken Schmidt said. "The building was unoccupied, no one was hurt and all of this can be replaced."

Bombshell Beauty, at 852 Main St., also received smoke and water damage, Schmidt said. Wells Fargo Bank, immediately east of the restaurant, was not damaged, a news release said.

No cause or origin for the fire have yet been determined by investigators.

Lewiston police arrested Praveen K. Khurana, 59, of Lewiston, at the scene of the fire Monday night on an unrelated warrant, Lewiston police Lt. Rick Fuentes said. Khurana is the registered agent of Top Restaurant Investment LLC, which owns Emperor of India Thai King, according to documents on file at the Idaho Secretary of State's Office.

Khurana was taken to Lewiston police headquarters for questions about Monday night's fire, but he was uncooperative, Fuentes said.

The unrelated arrest warrant was from Thursday. The Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office made six attempts between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3 to serve Khurana a summons for a felony malicious injury to property charge related to a property on Preston Avenue in Lewiston, court documents said. The summons was converted into an arrest warrant by Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Karin Seubert, court documents said.

Khurana was arraigned by video in Nez Perce County Magistrate Court on Tuesday afternoon. Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Sunil Ramalingam reduced Khurana's bond from $5,000 to $3,000.

Khurana had asked to be released on his own recognizance because he needed to get his business organized after Monday's fire, he has several civil cases pending and he is applying to attend law school at the University of Idaho.

Khurana faces up to five years in prison and a $1,000 fine if convicted of the felony malicious injury to property charge. A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 18.

Khurana is accused of causing $18,665 of damage to a home on Preston Avenue. He had been evicted from the property that is owned by the estate of Delores Adamson, whose personal representative is the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, court documents said.

The damage to the home was thought to have occurred sometime between Nov. 23, 2018, and Jan. 3, 2019, court documents said. He had threatened he would damage the home if forced to move out, court documents said.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.

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