The fire is now out, but the damage has already been done to Ithaca's iconic pub, the Chapter House. That business and a neighboring apartment building, both went up in flames Tuesday morning. Brad Vivacqua spoke with firefighters, who spent nearly four hours fighting this fire.
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A fire at the Chapter House in Ithaca is now under control. Crews spent nearly four hours fighting flames at the iconic pub and neighboring apartment building on Stewart Avenue Tuesday morning.
The fire started around 4 a.m., and firefighters say flames were already shooting through the roof when they arrived.
The apartment building which houses local college students was evacuated, and everyone is now accounted for.
"We're keeping everyone out of this Stewart Ave, from East State Street all the way to the Cornell campus. This road is going to be closed for quite some time. Pedestrians and everything were asked to stay out of the area as well. We do have a collapse hazard and the smoke condition is going to be kind of difficult for the next few hours," said Lt. Thomas Basher, a public information officer for the city of Ithaca Fire Department.
There is concern that the building could collapse, due to the fire and all of the water that was used to extinguish the flames.
The owner of the Chapter House was at the scene Tuesday morning; however, he did not want to go on camera to talk.