Firefighters are pictured Tuesday morning at the Colony Motel on Fairmount Avenue in West Ellicott. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

An estimated 15 people have been displaced, and three minor injuries were reported, after fire broke out Tuesday morning at the Colony Motel in West Ellicott.

Firefighters from numerous departments were on scene at the 620 Fairmount Ave. establishment, which first opened around 1955 before expanding.

The blaze was first reported around 5:30 a.m., and flames could still be seen shooting from the roof on the eastern side of the structure almost two hours later.

Celoron Fire Chief Jamison Justham said more than a dozen occupants of the Colony Motel were able to safely make it out as flames spread from one section of the property to another. He said two residents were transported to UPMC Chautauqua for evaluation while one firefighter also received treatment.

Justham said the displaced occupants were being assisted by local organizations including the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Christopher Skuggen and Taylor O’Neil were both awaken shortly after the fire broke out. The two had rooms next to each other and were able to safely leave the property without injury, though their belongings were presumed to be destroyed.

Skuggen said it was a manager of the motel who woke him up around 5:30 a.m. alerting him to the blaze. He said he heard screaming and saw flames engulfing a rear section of the motel.

“My room was filled with smoke,” Skuggen told The Post-Journal. “It just kept going on and on from there. It was that top left corner (of the motel) was the worst spots. It just spread through the whole top quick, super quick.”

O’Neil, too, awoke to screaming.

“I heard a girl yelling, ‘Get out. There’s a fire.’ And I seen smoke coming from my vent in the bathroom just flooding into my room,” she said, “and I could smell it really bad.”

A large portion of Fairmount Avenue near the scene was closed to vehicle traffic. Rows of fire engines lined the street in front of the Colony Motel.

County fire investigators were already at the scene. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

“We’ve used a significant amount of water to extinguish the blaze,” Justham said. “Once the fire is safely contained, fire investigators will begin looking into a cause.”

This story will be updated.