Massive fire destroys chunk of downtown Massena
Share
Tweet
February 7, 2008
Left and right: Firefighters battled the blaze from several feet above while smoke poured into the sky.
A part of Massena’s long history was changed last Thursday when a brutal fire took down three buildings in the heart of downtown.
The blaze erupted at approximately 8 a.m. in the building that houses decades old Tony’s Pizza – one of the town’s best loved eateries. The exact origination of the fire is not yet known, and fire officials aren’t certain they’ll ever know.
By the end of the fire, three buildings had been destroyed which had housed Hair Saloon, Novosel Associates and the former La Bottega.
More than 100 volunteer firefighters from Massena and its neighboring towns helped fight the blaze.
Smoke filled the clear sky that day and traffic was rerouted away from downtown. Still, many stunned Massena residents stood on sidewalks or gazed out of windows watching downtown burn.
Though some people were reportedly in apartments above Tony’s Pizza when the fire erupted, they all made it out safely, though some jumped several feet. Some firefighters were also reportedly deep inside one building before being called out, only to watch the building begin to crumble just minutes later.
Reader Comments(0)