Fire ravages Beekmantown motel: Origin said to be in room of motel [The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.]

July 21--BEEKMANTOWN -- Matt Smith rehearsed in his mind what he would do in the event of a fire at the Stonehelm Motel.

So when the former Clinton County correction officer awoke early Tuesday to someone shouting, "Fire!" he acted quickly.

"I poked my head out and saw smoke. So I ran in, grabbed all the pictures of my son and (my) money."

Smith said that when he left his room, he could see flames coming out of the doorway and windows of room 23, where, he said, the fire started.

"The room was engulfed," Smith said. "(The tenant) was yelling and screaming, 'Fire! Get out, get out!'"

Smith, who had been staying at the Stonehelm since November 2009, returned to the motel later Tuesday morning to find the place half destroyed.

"I really didn't expect all this," he said, holding a box of heavy-duty garbage bags as he prepared to pack up the remains of his belongings.

About 40 guests were evacuated as flames destroyed half of the building around 1:45 a.m. after someone spotted smoke billowing in the east wing of the Spellman Road establishment.

Satnam Singh, who has owned the motel for seven years, said he heard someone screaming, "Fire!" so he ran down and knocked on doors, telling people to leave their rooms.

"Everyone got out safely," Clinton County Emergency Services Director Eric Day said Tuesday morning from the nearby Beekmantown Fire Station.

Beekmantown Fire Chief Steve Trombley said the tenants were transported to the Fire Station, where they received Red Cross assistance and were placed in temporary housing.

As tenants and guests scrambled to safety, crews from 14 area departments were summoned for what became a several-hour fight to quell the flames.

Trombley said four of the motel units were fully involved when they arrived at about 2 a.m., as well as a boat and a van that the chief said was parked close to the engulfed building.

"It took about an hour and a half for the initial knockdown," he said, adding that the flames kept burning through the roof so they brought in an excavator to tear down that portion of the building.

Crews arrived to help from the Beekmantown, Altona, Cadyville, Champlain, Chazy, Cumberland Head, Dannemora, District 3, Keeseville, Morrisonville, Peru, Mooers, South Plattsburgh and West Chazy fire departments.

Emergency-medical technicians from CVPH EMS were also called, though no injuries were reported.

"There were about 70 firefighters here at any given time," Trombley said of the efforts.

WING DESTROYED

The cause of the fire is still being investigated, Day said, but it appeared to have started in one of the rooms.

A large portion of the motel, which consists of a central office and two wings, sustained significant damage.

"The fire was in the east wing and pretty much destroyed the whole wing," Day said.

The west wing, which has about 20 rooms, was saved.

Singh said he was waiting to talk to his insurer to decide whether he would rebuild the destroyed wing.

"It really depends on the insurance company. I don't know what I'll do."

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