Those who work and frequent the complex were understandably upset.

“[I’m] totally devastated but relieved there was no
one hurt,” Ariel Sinclair, a drag queen who has worked at the Ice
Palace for more than 15 years, said.
 
Fellow drag queen Logan Hardcore agreed.
 
“As someone that works there, I feel horrible about it and [I] hope that everything gets fixed,” she said.

Cherry
Grove resident Jim Kelly told Advocate.com he saw smoke “and the glow
of fire in the direction of the center of town” after a second alarm
sounded shortly after 1:30 a.m. He then walked downtown to watch
firefighters douse the flames.
 

“Since the Ice
Palace/Grove Hotel complex is so important to the vitality of the
Grove, I’m glad the damage is not worse than it is,” Kelly said.
 
Fire
Island is particularly vulnerable to fires because of its
isolation, dense vegetation and largely-wood structures. The Grove
Hotel fire is the latest in a series of blazes that have broken out on
the barrier island in recent months.