SPARE CHANGE: Wayfinder fire is a reminder of blazes I've covered in the past
We’re fortunate to live in a community that sees only occasional four- or five-alarm fires, requiring help from multiple communities. But Monday’s blaze at the Wayfinder Hotel (which everyone still calls the Mainstay) had the potential to be disastrous.
Newport firefighters and assisting communities managed to contain the fire to the hotel. There are other buildings nearby, including a condominium complex, with Festival Field apartments just down the road.
Luckily, there was little wind that night and no reported injuries. Kudos to the firefighters.
That’s not to say the heavily-damaged hotel and its potential guests went unscathed. This might’ve been the worst time of the year for a tourist-centered business to suffer a disaster.
The hotel has surely started booking guests for summer events — weddings, festivals, the tennis tournament, flower show, assorted parties sailing and on and on. I don’t know if the hotel holds wedding receptions, but it certainly books guests who are attending local weddings.
It’s going to be a challenge to relocate a summer’s slate of guests. And don’t forget Newport’s squeeze on short-term rentals, making things a little tighter.
Newport tourism officials know how to move on the fly. They will figure out a plan. Though finding rooms of comparable price — well, good luck:
“Welcome to Hotel Elon. How does our ground floor price of $485 per night suit you?”
Newport is expected to come to life this summer, especially on weekends. One less hotel can make a difference.
The owners bought the hotel in 2019 and revamped it. That happened just before you-know-what hit in the winter of 2020.
They surely have insurance in order to rebuild, but losing a summer of bookings, if that’s how it turns out, is crushing.
ODDZNENDZ: Off the top of my head, the biggest fires I covered as a reporter include what’s become known as the Burger King Fire on Thames Street (several other buildings were damaged or destroyed), a hotel on Wave Avenue whose name escapes me, two dorm fires at Salve Regina University, one in which a young man died.
Also, New England Boatworks in Portsmouth and the International Tennis Hall of Fame … and several smaller ones.
It was tough to interview people watching their home and possessions burn (I only talked to them with their permission).
• Good thoughts go out to Chip and Nickie Piermont and their two grown children after their Portsmouth home destroyed by fire several weeks ago.
They’ll need to rebuild and are renting. That means paying a mortgage and rent each month until their house is rebuilt.
There’s a GoFundMe online right now. Chip is a retired Newport police officer and Nickie is a veteran local nurse. They’ve helped so many in their careers. Now it’s their time to receive.
• About 20 years ago, I covered a fire at a house under construction on the Washington Street waterfront. It was known then as “The Million Dollar House.” In 2022, that’s a steal.
• I wasn’t living here at the time of the Travers Block fire. But people of a certain age still talk about it and its devastation.
Jim Gillis is a Daily News columnist. Send him email at jimgillis13@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Wayfinder hotel fire a reminder of past Newport blazes: SPARE CHANGE
