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 An award-winning Finger Lakes winery caught fire Tuesday night.
Flames broke out at Dr. Frank's Winery in Hammondsport around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The tasting room was destroyed, but the rest of the winery was saved.
George DiTomasso, the tasting manager at Dr. Franks said, “When we walked around and saw the back, we saw that the whole pavilion had really been destroyed by the fire.”
Up to 60-foot flames engulfed the pavilion tasting room. DiTomasso says it was devastating to see the building burn down.
”I came immediately as soon as I heard and we stood and watched and couldn't believe it,” DiTamasso said.
The tasting room, built just two years ago, was destroyed by 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The strength of the fire, says Pultuney's Assistant Fire Chief Ken Forenz, was unbelievable.
“When the chief rolled down the window, you could feel the heat pushing right through the window, obviously. It was roaring,” Forenz said.
The pavilion was scheduled for a wine tasting event this weekend.
The winery's president Frederick Frank told us, “it's a setback for us, particularly going into our busy summer and fall season. I don’t think there's any way that we can rebuild in time for the busy season. I don’t think anything can be salvaged from this building.”
But Frank also said no one was at the winery when it caught fire, and no other buildings were damaged.
On Wednesday, fire investigators searched through the cinders for a cause, while employees were busy with bottling and moving on.
“We were just really happy that we were still in business and everything was still going to be okay and can be cleaned up and replaced,” said DiTomasso.
Steuben County Fire Investigators said, the fire appears to have been accidental, and it may have started in the ceiling, but they are still looking at a few possible causes at this point.
For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website, www.whec.com.
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