Fire Rages Through Downtown Block in Ovid (NY)

Rylee Kirk – syracuse.com

Ovid, N.Y. — Brent Eva was cooking dinner Tuesday night when one of his tenants called.

The Big M grocery store on Main Street in the village of Ovid was on fire. Eva’s building — a laundromat, apartments and office — was two buildings down from the grocery store and separated by an alleyway.

Eva thought it would be OK. The building had metal siding.

But tenants kept updating him. It wasn’t looking good.

He left home and made it to Main Street around 7 p.m., where he stood with another business owner, watching their burning buildings collapse into rubble.

The huge fire burned for more than 11 hours and destroyed a block of the tiny Finger Lakes village, destroying four buildings with businesses and apartments.

More than 200 firefighters battled the blaze in freezing conditions. The wind chill was below 0 degrees. Strong winds made fighting the fire difficult.

Fighting the blaze took so much water that residents were asked to conserve water use.

Trucks, wires and the ground were covered with ice and icicles.

The village, home to just over 2,700 residents, lost its only grocery store, a Big M, and big chunk of its business center.

This morning smoke from the collapsed buildings could be seen from two miles away.

The Big M is on fire

The fire was reported at 5:48 p.m. Tuesday, according to 911 center dispatches. A caller said an apartment above the Big M grocery store was on fire. Minutes later, police reported the building was fully involved.

Firefighters got into the apartment but the fire forced them back out to work from the outside.

A fire chief put out an “all county” call for water tankers.

By 6:30 p.m., the Ovid Fire Department asked residents to avoid the block of Main Street. An hour later, the department asked people to avoid the entire village.

Around 10 p.m., a message was sent to Seneca County residents advising them of a mandatory order to conserve water. The village’s water supply was being depleted.

At 11 p.m., the department reported the fire was still not under control, there were 200 plus firefighters on scene, and that other buildings were on fire.

Heavy excavation trucks were brought in around 1:45 a.m., eight hours into the fight, to clear away parts of buildings.

At 5 a.m., the department posted that after 11 hours, the fire was largely out. This morning, firefighters continued to put out hot spots in the smoldering rubble.

None of the buildings survived. The Big M, Uptown Diner, laundromat, and Italian Kitchen were all lost. A barber shop was damaged.

The village’s nearby Edith B. Ford Memorial Library was protected.

“A heartfelt thanks goes out to the fire crews for protecting the library’s roof from the flying embers last night,” someone wrote on the fire department’s account. “You are appreciated for all that you do.”

This morning, firefighters still hosed down the rubble. Piles of bricks and other debris were being moved around by a large construction vehicle. The streets and sidewalks were slick with ice. Tanker trucks of water rolled down the street.

At Main Street and West Seneca County Road, 139 electrical crews worked on power lines. In front of the Big M, the power lines were covered in ice. Icicles dripped down. A car next to the rubble was covered in ice.

At times, black smoke billowed toward onlookers like a wall. People stood around to watch firefighters and the small flames that lingered Wednesday morning.

Eva, the owner of one of the buildings lost, came back to the street Wednesday morning. He was in the Seneca Coffee House with Ron Carmona.

Carmona and his wife own the Seneca Coffee House and Italian Kitchen. From the windows of the coffee shop, Eva and Carmona could see the rubble of their businesses.

The coffee shop is not serving coffee today, but the door is open. Carmona said he left the business unlocked overnight for firefighters and first responders to come in and warm up and use the bathroom.

Carmona was working at the Italian Kitchen when the fire broke out Tuesday night.

He brought tenants from the buildings into the restaurant when they had to evacuate.

“We pulled them into the Italian Kitchen to make them comfortable, warm, because some of them had no shoes,” he said.

They fed the tenants, some of whom were children, he said.

Then the call came for the Italian Kitchen to be evacuated.

“I still had a little hope because there’s that gap between the diner and (Eva’s) building,” Carmona said.

The fire spread and Carmona stayed, watching his restaurant crumble into rubble until 4 a.m. He came back to the coffee shop around 8 a.m.

“I wanted to see if there was anything, you know, left,” he said.

His biggest concern is his 18 employees, he said.

The Uptown Diner shared a post on Facebook: “While we don’t have the words yet, we want to share our gratitude and extreme gratefulness to the men and women that were fighting so hard to save our homes and businesses, the community of people that huddled together, prayed together, offered whatever they had and could do to HELP, ate together as our homes were engulfed.”

The post included two photos taken just an hour and a half apart. One is of a baby with a teddy bear and the other is of the diner on fire.

“We don’t know what or if there will be an Uptown Diner, but we’ve made a family out of customers and members of the community here and that is forever,” the post reads.

Eva is thinking of his tenants as well.

“They lost everything,” Eva said. He plans to help them, refunding their security deposit and trying to help.

Help starts pouring in

On Wednesday, the Ovid Community Thrift Store at 7137 Main St was open from 9 a.m. to noon to help those affected by the fire.

The Ovid Federated Church at the same address was taking donations of clothing, bedding and household items.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post at 7068 State Route 96 is taking donations for families affected. The post shared a GoFundMe campaign for one woman and her three children, ages 3, 10 and 11, who were displaced. The family also lost their car, which was parked outside the building, according to the page.

The Red Cross is at the South Seneca High School gym for any families that may be affected and need assistance.

The Seneca County United Way compiled a list of places accepting donations.

More information about donations for those affected will be posted on the Ovid Fire Department Facebook Wednesday afternoon, firefighters said.

Carmona said that the village is a family and people should visit.

“Come to see us,” Carmona said. “We are located right between the lakes and all the wineries.”

Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.

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