'It's gone': Conneaut Lake Park's Blue Streak was being torn down when a fire started

CONNEAUT LAKE — At an amusement park steeped in nostalgia, the 84-year-old Blue Streak — designated a landmark roller coaster by the American Coaster Enthusiasts — was the centerpiece.

A portion of that centerpiece, a wooden roller coaster built at Conneaut Lake Park, laid on the ground as charred ruins Wednesday morning.

The Blue Streak was in the process of being dismantled when it was damaged by fire Tuesday night, a park official said in a Facebook post Tuesday night.

Tuesday's report: Park official says Blue Streak coaster was being demolished before fire broke out

"As the GM I would like to make a statement explaining what happened today.

Damage to the Blue Streak was NOT caused by the fire. It was from the heavy equipment demolishing it as per permit this morning," the post said.

It is unclear who the "GM" is.

Related coverage: Conneaut Lake Park, a 129-year-old Crawford County icon, sold for $1.2 million

The post goes on to say: "A burn permit was also issued to have small controlled fires to burn the wood as demolition continued. A mechanical issue occurred to the heavy equipment used to assist in the control, causing the fire to spread to the front part of the loading dock.

"To ensure safety the Fire Department was called to assist. Thankfully no one was hurt.

The rest of the Blue Streak will come down in the next few days per permit."

A dispatcher at Crawford County 911 said the fire was reported at 4:23 p.m. on Tuesday. Crews had left the scene by about 6:30 p.m.

The Summit Township Volunteer Fire Department was the first crew to arrive, according to Crawford 911. Crews from Vernon Central Volunteer Fire Department, Linesville and North Shenango fire departments also responded.

The call came in as a controlled burn that escalated to a working fire on the coaster. The coaster was in the process of being dismantled, and piles of debris were being burned.

"Three piles (of debris) were burning," said Dan O'Meara, chief of the Summit Township Volunteer Fire Department. "The main pile caught the Blue Streak on fire because the wind shifted."

Conneaut Lake Park owner Todd Joseph was on the scene at the time of the fire.

"He's the one who called it in because it got out of hand. He (came) right down and talked to me," O'Meara said.

Joseph could not be reached for comment Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

O'Meara said there was heavy damage to the building that houses the passenger loading area for the Blue Streak, which was in pieces when crews got there.

"It's gone," said O'Meara, of the main coaster structures. "So, it must have been dismantled. The tracks and everything are gone.

"We were more worried about the carousel," O'Meara said. "We wanted to save the carousel," which was not damaged in the fire, O'Meara said. He said the coaster's loading area was heavily damaged and will be torn down Wednesday.

The status of the 129-year-old park has been in question since Joseph, through his company, Keldon Holdings LLC, purchased the park out of bankruptcy in March.

In a March interview with the Erie Times-News, Joseph said his first priority would be to eliminate blight, including old houses and midway buildings.

There were no immediate plans, he said at the time, to do anything with the Blue Streak, which had been ranked as one of the nation's top wooden roller coasters as recently as 2019.

"We are going to put the Blue Streak on the back burner to get some structural engineers to see what we are dealing with," Joseph said in March, leaving open the possibility that the coaster might be used in the future.

Joseph has said repeatedly that he wanted to focus on using the property as a venue to host concerts and other events.

In a September interview with the Erie Times-News, Joseph would only say, "I want to talk about the events and the concerts," he said. "We don't want to do any press (on the amusement park) at this point. We will kick that can down the road."

No fixing the Blue Streak

Rides have been posted for sale on UsedRides.com, which features rides from amusement parks and carnivals from around the country, since the park closed for the season after the Labor Day weekend. And complaint from neighbors concerning park operations prompted a followup hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in November.

Waldameer Park and Water World owner Paul Nelson, who toyed with the idea of buying Conneaut Lake Park in the mid-1990s, was a fan of the Blue Streak.

"It was a good coaster. It was fast and it rode nice," he said.

Nelson doesn't blame Joseph for making the decision to tear down the pale-blue coaster that's been a landmark for decades, visible from near the park's entrance on Route 618.

After sitting idle for a couple of years, it would have been difficult to operate it safely again.

"I don't fault him for taking it down," Nelson said. "It wasn't really safe and he (Joseph) had nothing to do with it not being safe."

Fans of the park weren't taking the news as well Wednesday.

Gloria Novak, a Pittsburgh resident who has owned a summer property just three doors down from the park's Kiddie Land for decades, described herself as "heartsick" Wednesday morning.

Novak, who had raised objections to the sale of the park, both before and after it was completed, has stressed repeatedly the need for historic elements of the park to be preserved.

"It makes me totally sick," Novak said Wednesday. "The fact that that the officials who were supposed to represent the people of western Pennsylvania have failed to protect that park will be seen in history as one of the great tragedies of this area."

In previous interviews and in correspondence with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Joseph has made the case that the status quo wasn't working for Conneaut Lake Park.

CLP in court: Judge in Conneaut Lake Park case says he has no jurisdiction, but he does have a suggestion

What's next: Rides for sale, but Conneaut Lake Park owner is still silent on park plans

"People don't like change, what worked in 1950 for these 80-year-old people, simply doesn't work now," Joseph wrote in his letter to the bankruptcy judge.

For Novak, that's a hard pill to swallow.

"There is no reason the park couldn't have been saved, but it's gone now," she said.

Contact Jim Martin at 814-870-1668 or jmartin@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNMartin.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Roller coaster fire: Blue Streak at Conneaut damaged in blaze