A smoky fire damaged more than a dozen rooms at Fire Island's famed Grove Hotel early Tuesday morning.

The blaze broke out in a housekeeping shed along the north side of Cherry Grove's two-story Grove Hotel shortly before 2 a.m. Firefighters from the Grove, the Fire Island Pines, and other Fire Island and Long Island departments responded to the scene.

The four people inside the hotel evacuated safely, but local firefighter Ian Levine told the Fire Island News the thick smoke made it difficult to find the fire’s source.

“The smoke ran through the entire building,” he said.

The flames damaged 18 rooms and power remains off throughout the hotel because the blaze melted wires. 

“The north end of the hotel is completely burned down,” Grove Hotel manager Ramón Peña-Sierra told Advocate.com.

Shortly before the Grove Hotel caught
fire, another fire was reported in a nearby trash can. There is no
evidence to suggest the two incidents are related, and investigators
have yet to determine what sparked the Grove Hotel fire.

Located in downtown Cherry Grove, the hotel and the adjacent Ice Palace
nightclub are among Fire Island’s largest entertainment complexes.
Comedian Wanda Sykes, Lady Gaga, and DJ Susan Morabito are among those
who have performed in the Ice Palace in recent years.