By Eli Ruiz
WOODBOURNE — An aggressive fire at the former Aladdin Hotel in Woodbourne on Friday left the main structure of the hotel without a roof or a top floor.
There was only smoke visible when the first fire units arrived. But about an hour after that, flames shot out of windows as mattresses caught fire. Eventually, the flames went to three alarms.
Hurleyville Fire Department Chief Jim Kaufman said, “We were on our way there and thinking this could be another Grandview,” referring to the old Brown’s hotel that was mostly destroyed in a massive fire on April 14.
“It was actually a good thing that the fire started up high on that top floor… it had nowhere to go but up,” said Kaufman.
Indeed, the Grandview fire started low and center in the structure, therefore, as Kaufman put it, “It spread in all directions but this fire had nowhere to go.”
There were no injuries reported and the old hotel was unoccupied. The structure was condemned by the town of Fallsburg last year.
The Woodbourne Fire Department – led by Chief John Wallace – was the lead agency responding to the fire shortly after the first call at 2:23 p.m. While the Woodbourne crew fought the fire from the front of the property, Kaufman and his men battled from behind the building.
Also lending their support to the effort were departments from Loch Sheldrake, Fallsburg, Liberty, Ellenville and Monticello.
“We had it all under control by 4:30 p.m.so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” said Kaufman. “This could have been much worse.”