By the time Brendan Murnane arrived early Thursday morning, most of the flames had been put out at the Lakeside Lodge and Grill in Bolton Landing.

“I woke up and I saw the calls and I saw the pictures, and I just came down here immediately,” Murnane said early Thursday afternoon. “It’s devastating. The Lakeside has been here forever, and it’s sad to see it not here anymore.”

Murnane is president of the Bolton Landing Brewing Company, which sits just across Lake Shore Drive from the longtime bar and restaurant. As investigators and demolition crews worked through the debris, Murnane said Lakeside’s owners had completed a full renovation just before the summer. He said this was the first week that new rental apartments above the bar had been empty.

There’s not much left of the Lakeside Lodge in Bolton Landing, which burned down early this morning. pic.twitter.com/WyEPJkuBID

— Matt Hunter (@MattHunterTV) September 17, 2020

“It’s unbelievable,” Murnane said. “That would have been horrific, so the fact that no one was in there last night is really a blessing.”

“It could have been a lot worse,” Bolton Landing Fire Chief Robert LaGoy said. “You could have had a lot more people here in town, the business could’ve been opened at that point.”

LaGoy was one of the first people to arrive after the 911 call came in around 3 a.m.

“It was fully involved,” LaGoy said. “There were flames occupying the old front of the building when I got here.”

LaGoy says it is too soon to determine what started the fire, but Murnane says the community is already rallying around Lakeside’s owner and employees.

“The owners are obviously very upset,” LaGoy said. “It is sad to lose a business like this in a small community.”

“I've talked to a couple other business owners, and we are already looking to see what we can do,” Murnane said. “It is a small town, and we are here for whatever Nicole or Lakeside or the staff needs.”