Investigation Into West Ellicott Motel Fire Still Ongoing
Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel, pointing in middle, is pictured Tuesday with two county fire investigators. A probe into a fire that destroyed the Colony Motel in West Ellicott remains ongoing. P-J photos by Eric Tichy
Firefighters from numerous departments responded Tuesday morning to the Colony Motel, 620 Fairmount Ave. A fire that broke out around 5:30 a.m. spread throughout much of the property, which first opened in 1955.
Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel, pointing in middle, is pictured Tuesday with two county fire investigators. A probe into a fire that destroyed the Colony Motel in West Ellicott remains ongoing. P-J photos by Eric Tichy
Firefighters from numerous departments responded Tuesday morning to the Colony Motel, 620 Fairmount Ave. A fire that broke out around 5:30 a.m. spread throughout much of the property, which first opened in 1955.
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WEST ELLICOTT -- It could take days or even weeks to determine, if at all, what caused Tuesday's fire that destroyed the Colony Motel in West Ellicott.
A preliminary investigation into the blaze began while firefighters from more than a dozen departments were still on scene. In a news release, the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office said the probe by its Fire Investigation Team remains ongoing, while Undersheriff Rich Telford said the fire's general origin has been identified.
"But due to the amount of damage and safety concerns, our hands-on investigation was limited in that area," Telford said.
Fire broke out at 620 Fairmount Ave. motel around 5:30 a.m. Celoron Fire Chief Jamison Justham said 15 residents were displaced due to the blaze and resulted in minor injuries to two occupants and two firefighters.
One resident, Christopher Skuggen, said a manager alerted him to the fire and soon witnessed 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 spot. It just spread through the whole top quick, super quick."
Due to the damage caused by the fire, the property was demolished later Tuesday.
Around 11:40 p.m., the fire rekindled in a pile of debris on the western side of the motel site. A portion of Fairmount Avenue was again closed to traffic, and crews remained on scene past 1 a.m.
County fire investigators are working with the Ellicott Police Department to look into the blaze. Telford said officials have talked to the motel's owner as well as some of the occupants and several neighbors.
"We are looking at some surveillance videos from the area and will be trying to identify any other videos that might be available," he said, later adding, "It may take several days or weeks due to the large scale fire and the amount of damage."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 716-753-4231 or the Ellicott Police Department at 716-665-7083.
SHERIFF COMMENTS
In a statement released Wednesday, Sheriff James Quattrone lauded the work of firefighters, the majority of whom were volunteers, who worked to put out the massive blaze. He said 14 departments responded to West Ellicott with another 10 agencies that provided additional assistance.
"This means they are freely giving of their time and sometimes finances to protect their communities," he said. "Over the last month we have also seen that they willingly put their lives in harm's way to protect us; we have had some serious incidents where firefighters from around the county were fortunate to survive, and that is likely due to the many hours they spend training."
Quattrone also alluded to "various posts" on social media that criticized Fairmount Avenue being closed for several hours. He said the closure allowed hoses to be connected to hydrants across the road and to ensure firefighter safety.
"Closing the road down is a matter of safety," the sheriff said. "Before you complain about inconveniences, please consider the sacrifices the many volunteers make every day to keep us safe.
"Perhaps even better, consider signing up to volunteer for one of these agencies that are so much in need of more volunteers. My hat is off to the courageous men and women that are willing to stand in the gap for all of us -- with the only compensation being that they are positively contributing to their community."