September 1, 2017
Canandaigua, NY
A surveillance camera inside Nolan’s on Canandaigua Lake and was able to help investigators pinpoint the time and cause of the fire that destroyed the restaurant.
A five member-team of Canandaigua firefighters and police officers, along with members of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Office of Fire Prevention and Control, began investigating the July 13 fire within hours of its discovery by a passerby and released their findings Thursday that the fire started at 4:34 a.m. After a burner on the stove had been left on for a prolonged period of time.
Further details were released Friday at the police station by Police Chief Stephen Hedworth, Acting Fire Chief Ben Cramer and City Manager John Goodwin.
Hedworth said it was fortunate the business owners, Nick Violas and Kate Nolan, had the surveillance camera in the restaurant and that it survived the blaze.
Goodwin said the city is pursuing a Community Development Block Grant to help the owners rebuild.
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A four-alarm fire that destroyed a popular Canandaigua restaurant in July has been ruled accidental, authorities announced Thursday.
The fire leveled Nolan's Restaurant, 726 S. Main St., on July 13. Owners have vowed to rebuild.
At a press conference Friday, City Manager John Goodwin said Nolan's owners are working with the city to apply for a community development block grant. The community of Canandaigua is supportive, "the community has shown, we come together," in hard times, Goodwin said.
The Canandaigua police and fire departments handled the investigation. They were assisted by the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. The fire started in the kitchen area of the restaurant, "specifically from the burner of the stove being left in the on position for a prolonged period of time," a release stated.
The fire started at 4:34 a.m. in the kitchen, authorities said, and then it moved to the oven hood and the ceiling area of the kitchen. A civilian reported the fire at 5:25 a.m.
Firefighters and police arrived within four minutes and "found the inside of the structure engulfed in smoke," according to the release.
Because of the building's age and state fire codes, the fire alarm system inside of Nolan's was not required to be an outside alerting system. Acting Fire Chief Cramer said like other old buildings the structure was grandfathered in.
The fire was deemed under control four hours later, though crews remained at the scene for much of the day. No injuries were reported.
"Thankful that no one was injured," Canandaigua Police Chief Stephen Hedworth said. "Sometimes bad things happen for no good reason."
"Some of us stood in shock, while most of us attempted to fight back the tears as we watched all of our hard work fall one piece at a time," Nolan's co-owner Nick Violas said via a Facebook post. "It was horrifying and it was surreal."
Violas said they plan to rebuild on South Main Street with a goal of re-opening by April 2018. In the meantime, full-time restaurant employees will work at Nolan's at the Canandaigua Country Club for the remainder of the summer. The catering business is still "going strong," he added.