Fire in Downtown Oneonta; Main Street Partially Closed at this Hour
UPDATE: AS OF 11:10AM THE FIRE IS OUT, OFD HAS LEFT THE SCENE AND MAIN STREET IS NOW OPEN.
What appears to be a boiler fire at the historic old Oneonta Hotel building at Main and Dietz Streets in downtown Oneonta has closed a portion of Main Street at least temporarily.
"Apparently it started just a short while ago, shortly after 10:00 am," Mayor Gary Herzig told me. "The Oneonta Fire Department is doing their expert job of taking care if it. It does not appear that the building had to be evacuated." The OFD can be seen using their long extension ladder truck to reach the roof.
According to the Greater Oneonta Historical Society website the original hotel on this site was the Central Hotel, built in 1873. It burned in 1910 and was soon replaced by the Oneonta Hotel. Note the lion heads and the Ionic columns on the Beaux Arts building. Broad Street once ran from the hotels on this site to the Delaware & Hudson railroad depot on Market Street.
Main Street Oneonta is closed between Dietz and Ford at this time.