Port Jervis – A stubborn fire gutted the historic Colonial Inn last night, forcing 35 tenants to flee into the frigid night.
   The blaze shrouded the three-story, white-washed landmark in dense plumes of smoke that rose hundreds of feet into the air.
   About 9 p.m., the thickest smoke of the battle began cascading from the first and second floors, darkening the lights along Main Street. The smoke pushed back crowds of coughing bystanders. Unmasked firefighters were seen in the street bent over and heaving from the effects of the acrid smoke.
   "This ain't over yet," a firefighter said as he rushed toward a ladder truck.
   None of the tenants was injured, fire officials said.
   Scores of firefighters from New York and Pennsylvania were still battling the blaze after 10 p.m., when flames could be seen shooting from the roof.
   In the fourth hour of the battle, flames shot out of the top windows. The loud cracks of timber breaking could be heard just before the roof gave way.
   The fire was first detected about 6 p.m. as smoke began pouring out of vents and up between floorboards on the first floor, tenants said. All of the tenants interviewed agreed the fire seemed to begin in the basement.
   Tenants said they banded together and went through the building alerting their neighbors. None of the witnesses interviewed last night heard a fire alarm or saw any sprinklers activated as smoke billowed in the hallways.
   The building's manager, Dave, who didn't want his last name used, said he pulled a fire alarm in the building and called 911. Last night, he scurried with his clipboard between ladder trucks and firefighters slinging hoses, trying to take a head count of his scattered tenants. By 8:45 p.m., he had checked off everyone on his list.
   Many of the occupants live in small apartments and single rooms in the old building. One of them drank a beer, coatless on the sidewalk, as he made a cell phone call, seemingly oblivious to the sub-freezing temperatures.
   J & L Dispatchers, the city's only taxi service, had its offices on the first floor of the inn. Owner Bobbi Gramlins, who was about to move to a new office at 132 Pike St., said she will be able to move to her new home today.
   The pet grooming business, next door to the taxi service, suffered heavy smoke damage. Six puppies who were boarded at Tail Waggers were saved by police.
   Rea Buick across the street took in the puppies and opened its doors to the newly homeless and firefighters. Coffee was made and the heat was turned up, said Kathy Rea, wife of the car dealership's owner, Joe Rea.
   "These are our neighbors. This is what we do," Rea said.
   Mike Fico of Glen Spey bought coffee and delivered it to Rea. He had helped evacuate tenants and checked on his motorcycle, a Suzuki Katana that is being repaired at Cliff Cycle, behind the inn.
   "My first priority was to save people. The second, my bike," he said.
   Inside the dealership, Kathi Cronin was losing hope for her two black cats, Salem and Midnight, which immediately hid when they smelled smoke.
   "All my CDs and DVDs, those can all be replaced," said Cronin, who has lived on the inn's third-floor for eight years with her husband, Tim. "But I can't replace my cats or my mother's photo, or my wedding setØ…."
   Her neighbor, Roberta Hiller, ran from her apartment on the first floor with only her keys and cell phone. She shivered outside the dealership, smoking, watching firefighters armed with pickaxes storm the building.
   "I left all my medicine and my blood glucose machine in there. Everything," said the 44-year-old diabetic. "At least I have my car."
   New Mayor Gary Lopriore, who had come to the scene, wasn't surprised by the camaraderie.
   "This is typical Port Jervis," the mayor said. "This is what we do: We look out for one another."
   The Colonial Inn, on the corner of Pike and Main streets, has been the subject of local concerns for some time. The sagging, weathered landmark is home to several first-floor businesses and a number of apartments and rooms in the upper floors.
   Many have complained publically that the building is in poor condition and lacks sprinklers and fire escapes.
   The inn, formerly the Union House, actually dates to the days of the Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Erie Railroad. It was once home to John B. Jervis, a canal engineer and the town's namesake.
   Recently, the inn has been the subject of speculation that developers were interested in razing it and replacing it with an Eckerd Drug Store.

 Port Jervis – More than 500,000 gallons of water were used to quell the fire that tore through the Colonial Inn.
   That's enough to fill a standard Olympic-size swimming pool.
   It was certainly enough to fill the cellar of the inn, which officials said looked like a swimming pool after the 20-hour fire battle and soak down that began Monday night.
   The inn blaze required so much water, city officials had to call for tanker trucks from other departments for fear of depleting treated water at the city's filtration plant.
   The response: a flood.
   Of the 45 departments that assisted, 18 brought tanker trucks, which continued to make round-the-clock fill-ups.
   For instance, the Town of Greenville reloaded its giant tanker truck with Delaware River water more than 40 times, officials said.
   The water, as firefighters and onlookers know, didn't just drip cleanly down the cellar. It froze.
   The ice coated everything: Main Street (firefighters were slipping and sliding while slinging heavy hoses); the firefighters (many had icicles on their helmets); the unburned walls (most outer walls were charred, others looked like a three-story glacier).
   Ice wreaked havoc on the hoses themselves, cracking nozzles with the expanding H2O, said fire Chief Mike Cicalese.
   The estimated cost for the fire battle has yet to be tallied, said Stan Siegel, at-large councilman and chairman of the city's public safety committee.
   The cause of the fire is still under investigation

Port Jervis – For area firefighters, it was not a question of if but when.
   The Colonial Inn was a fire call many firefighters feared.
   They worried about the logistics of rescue, the layout of the dilapidated historic building built in 1832.
   It was three stories of white-washed timber. If it caught fire it would be tough to put out, and every Port Jervis firefighter knew it.
   On Monday evening, that call came. The landmark housed 35 people in 24 rooms.
   It had narrow hallways and narrow stairwells, uneven floors, ceilings and door sashes from years of add-ons and restorations. Those additions created nooks and crannies and alcoves, making it hard to negotiate in blinding smoke.
   By midday Tuesday, victory was officially declared: The fire was out. No injuries were reported, and all 35 tenants made it to safety.
   Firefighters were glowing Tuesday morning. Tired, cold, hungry, ice-coated – but triumphant.
   Rookies and veterans alike from Port Jervis and departments all over the region knew they had bested one of the most stubborn blazes in Port Jervis history.
   "Not in my 20 years have I seen a fire as stubborn or as tricky as this one here was," said Port Jervis fire Chief Mike Cicalese. The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.
   According to Port Jervis records, the building was up to code and had not been cited for any recent violations. This summer, the inn's owner installed a new fire alarm system and made improvements to various parts of the balcony. Firefighters said the alarm system was working, but many tenants reported they heard no building-wide system sounding. The old building had sprinklers only in a portion of the basement.
   Paul Hanson, of Brittany Properties in Middletown, which owns and rents the apartments, could not be reached for comment.
   "What is amazing, truly amazing, is that no one got hurt or worse," Cicalese said. "If this thing had happened at 2 a.m., we'd still be pulling bodies out of here. Everyone's lucky it happened when it did."
   The fire broke out just after 6 p.m. Monday and crept from the southwest basement to the roof, which later collapsed, unleashing flames and a massive wall of acrid smoke. By 9 p.m. all tenants were accounted for.
   Bystanders, area businesses and others helped tenants find new or temporary housing. Homeless tenants were moved by school bus from makeshift shelters to Port Jervis High School. There, the Port/Pike Chapter Red Cross assisted the tenants.
   "The outpouring of help has been really incredible," said Kathi Cronin, a longtime tenant. She said organizations, such as the Red Cross, Bon Secours Hospital and the Port Jervis Community Development Agency, have been trying to help her and her husband find a new apartment.
   City officials weren't sure what was next for the old inn. Many seemed doubtful that the charred skeleton could be saved. There were no estimates on the cost of the damage, but according to 2003 assessment records, the property had a market value of ,672.
   Recently, the inn has been the subject of speculation that developers were interested in razing it and replacing it with an Eckerd drug store.

I would like to thank my cousin Sean Alexander for sending me these pictures. Stories are from www.th-record.com archives