The historic Collier Inn on Useppa Island was saved from a fire early this morning after a cigarette smoldered overnight in a bucket outside the inn.
“Thank God it’s still standing. I mean, it got scary there,” said Useppa Island CEO Steven Mezynieski.
Mezynieski said that the inn had already suffered significant damage from Hurricane Ian and then Milton and Helene, prompting a major renovation.
“The past three storms have really, really destroyed the building, so we were doing a major renovation on it, and this was just kind of the final straw,” he said.
The fire was discovered when worker Pete Frazzetta saw flames and called 911.
“I saw the flames,” Frazzetta said.
Flames had reached behind the inn’s walls and burned up to the third floor. Frazzetta, Mezynieski, and the Useppa Island fire department quickly worked to extinguish the fire.
“When I pulled up and saw flames coming out of the roof, I thought to myself, I can do one of two things, I can wait for the fire department here, or we can do anything we can to try and save this building,” Mezynieski said.
Their efforts paid off, as they managed to put out the fire in just 20 minutes.
“I guess I helped them save the iconic building,” Frazzeta said.
An iconic building that’s here to stay.
“Let’s hope that everything is full steam forward now and no more setbacks,” Mezynieski said.
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Source: gulfcoastnewsnow
