The Nick Beni Town House Fire

Thursday, March 31 2011 @ 04:39 PM EDT

by Allan R. Way, Company Historian

In putting this account together, I reviewed accounts from the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Evening News, the Wappingers & Southern Dutchess News, and a Gateway to Dutchess Newspaper. I spoke with several firefighters who were present at on the scene including our late Chief, Fred Nameth Sr. and the late Mr. Clifford Mac Mullen, who provided color photographs of the scene. It was interesting to note the different reporting styles in that some versions were human interest, others more sensational in approach, and another was an approach of minimal fact.

THE BLAZE

On the very cold, snow covered Monday evening of January 4TH, 1965, flames shot from the roof of Nick Beni’s Town House restaurant on Old Main Street in the Village of Fishkill. Located on property now occupied by the All-Sport Fitness Center and an adjacent office building, The restaurant had been opened a mere two months before on November 4, 1964. In a matter of a few hours, it was destroyed by a huge volume of fire.

Mr. Beni purchased the former Kent House last July, and had renovated the place extensively. Since remodeling it contained three dining rooms, a cloak room and offices on the first floor, ten bedrooms on the second floor, and three rooms above.

Royal Gay, a retired Fishkill garage and restaurant owner, said to the Poughkeepsie Journal that his wife was washing dishes last night when she spotted the fire at Nick Beni's Town House next door and called him. He said the flames were "going up the curtains" of the bay windowed Castilian Room on the first floor.

Mr. Gay notified the Fishkill State Police barracks and firefighters responded quickly, he said. He then called the Beni residence and told Mrs. Beni of the fire. Protection Engine Chief Fred Nameth was in charge of fire fighting operations. The chief said a motorist traveling on Rt. 9 spotted the blaze at about the same time that Mrs. Gay did and turned in an alarm. The man was not identified.

Two employees were reported to have been in the restaurant at the time of the fire but Mr. Gay said it was determined that both had gotten out safely. The restaurant was normally closed on Monday evenings.

Dutchess County did not have a 911 system in 1965. The method for reporting a fire was to dial a “regular” but dedicated telephone number that a State Trooper answered at the State Police barracks on Hopewell Avenue in the Village. The trooper would activate the firehouse siren from there and wait for the first firefighter to reach the station to call them on a dedicated landline. Then the trooper would relay the necessary alarm information to the firefighter who wrote it on a slate board in the engine room for the other responding firefighters to read. Dutchess Fire Alarm Headquarters (today’s 911- response center) would be notified by radio when apparatus responded.

Fishkill’s Protection Engine Company responded to the alarm with its 3 pieces of apparatus, a 1963 Ward-LaFrance, a 1953 GMC and a 1937 Mack. “The fire was burning good at this time”. More than one firefighter commented upon arrival at the scene that the fire had such a good start, the building was beyond saving.

Firefighters from Fishkill, Glenham, Hughsonville and New Hackensack, directed by Fishkill's Chief Fred J. Nameth, battled the flames. Wiccopee firefighters and equipment covered the Village of Fishkill while Beacon Engine covered Glenham.

Firefighters were considerably hampered by a lack of water pressure. A fire hydrant located directly in front of the restaurant had multiple lines hooked to it and drew so heavily on the Fishkill water supply that some homes and other buildings in the Fishkill area had no water for a few hours. Several families in the area were without water until sometime late Tuesday. Besides the fire hydrant near the building, where several hoses were connected, water was also being drawn from the Fishkill Creek.

To augment the poor water supply, Hughsonville, New Hackensack and an engine from Fishkill laid a supply line to the Fishkill Creek to draw water from the bridge on Route 9. At one point, the firefighters had to disconnect the hoses that were across the R/R tracks to let a train through.

The lack of water in the Village water system sparked a debate about a countywide water department. County Fire Coordinator John Wood said that this fire showed the urgent need for a good water supply that a county water district could supply. He added that a shortage of water was noted at the Town House fire and that this could happen again in the county.

The firefighters were also hampered by lack of water because of the long drought the previous year that had lowered the water reservoir in the Fishkill area. Mr. Wood also said that it was doubtful that the Town House could have been saved because it was closed on this night and the fire had such a head start before it was discovered.

As the flames roared through the building and leaped from the roof, they were visible for miles and attracted a number of people to the scene. Traffic was jammed for a time with 450 spectators or more who had come to see the fire. This is ok except that the spectators make it very difficult for the firefighters to move equipment in and out of the fire ground. It was a tough job for the fire police to keep the way clear as cars were trying to get as close to the scene as possible and the roads were very slippery from the ice formed from the flow of water from the hoses.

No one was reported with a serious injury fighting the blaze in the sub-freezing weather. Several firefighters had to jump to safety when one of the high-tension wires burned and fell to the ground. In addition, a few more firefighters reported some "close calls" as portions of the structure collapsed.

Besides some 100 plus firefighters who for many hours stood in the freezing night air trying in vain to save this historic landmark, there were many people behind the scenes. Dr. Morris Schwartz from the Glenham Slater Chemical Fire Company was there for a good many hours to aid any injured. While there, a reporter observed the concern of Dr. Schwartz towards the men. He made sure all the firefighters had hot coffee and sandwiches and kept his sharp eye out at the several near accidents that could have happened if these well-trained firefighters had not been on the alert, as sections of the building collapsed.

The Ladies Auxiliary, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army were all there to keep hot soup, hot coffee, and sandwiches going to the firefighters. (Reporters in this era called them “the boys”.). The Beacon Volunteer Ambulance was on the scene as well as a rig and three men from John Sloper.

Chief Fred Nameth was in charge of the operation and through the fast work of the firefighters the fire was reported to be under control at 10 p.m. The chief ordered one engine and a crew of firefighters to remain at the scene throughout the night to keep the remains wetted down and to prevent another outburst of fire.

Dutchess Fire Alarm headquarters recorded the alarm at 6:20 p.m. with the last piece of apparatus reported back in its Station at 2:43 a.m. Fishkill firefighters returned to the scene in force at 3:30 a.m. to combat a rekindle and final recall was at 4:42 a.m.

Nick Beni was a well-known area restaurateur. The fire occurred almost six months to the day after flames from an undetermined origin destroyed Mr. Beni's widely known Anchor Inn on Main Street in the Arlington section of Poughkeepsie. That restaurant burned last July 3rd with damage estimated at $500,000. The Town House burned down on January 4th .

Brothers Michael and James Beni were at the scene of the fire but Nick Beni, the owner, was not located until after the building had been destroyed. Michael said he understood Nick and an employee, George Werner, had left the restaurant at about 5:30 and had looked around the building before they left, as the place was closed on Monday nights, as does many other restaurants in this area, and everything seemed in order at the time.

Both brothers were in tears, stating they had all put many months of sweat and money into the new restaurant and now it was all gone. They conjectured this would be a severe blow to their brother.

Mr. Beni, notified of last night’s fire shortly after it was discovered at 6 o'clock, spent the next day as a patient at St. Francis' Hospital where his condition was described as fair. His physician said only that Mr. Beni, admitted last night after the fire, is at the hospital for observation. Other reports said he was suffering from nervous stress.

The inquiry into the cause was led by State Police Senior BCI Investigator LeRoy, and Deputy Sheriff Traver, Chief Deputy Borchers said that investigators of 'the National Board of Fire Underwriters were en route to join in the inquiry. Chief Nameth said he understood two employees lived on the second floor of the three-story frame structure but were not in at the time of the fire. Chief Nameth said by the time his men arrived the fire was burning strongly in the front part of the building.

BCI investigator LeRoy, in charge of investigating the circumstances of the fire, confirmed the fire was discovered at 6:20 PM by Mrs. Royal (Robin) Gay, next-door neighbor.

State Police Sgt. Erskine said Mr. Beni and an employee, George Warner, left the restaurant about 5:30 p.m. and had checked the premises before their departure. The restaurant was closed as it is every Monday.

A preliminary report indicated the fire started in the front part of the building, which contained a cocktail lounge and continental style restaurant.

The loss, estimated at $150,000, was reportedly covered by insurance. The $150,000 damage estimate was made by Chief Deputy Sheriff Borchers.

Don Nickerson and Dick Ten Eyck were on-hand from the Dutchess County Bureau of Fire. They said that the fire had a good head start on firefighters before the alarm was turned in or the fire was spotted. Also, that at the time it appeared that it had started in the rear of the building. At this point, it was difficult to determine where it had broke out since the preliminary report stated that it started in the cocktail lounge that was housed in the front of the building.

The actual cause of the blaze has never been determined.

This building was built in 1884 by Doctor Howell White, and at the time used as a doctor’s office and his private residence. Doctor White was Mrs. Gay’s father. Mrs. Gay was born in that house. The house was sold to Mrs. Jack O'Gorman who established a summer boarding house in the building. Mrs. O’Gorman eventually sold it to Mrs. Gertrude Hart, who turned the building into a restaurant. The next owner of the building was Theodore Zuber, from Connecticut when his Kent [image5_right] Hotel there was demolished to make way for a new highway. He named the restaurant the "Kent House" after his old hotel. Mr. Zuber passed away and his wife, sold the property to three Connecticut attorneys, who operated the business for about a year and a half before the Fishkill National Bank of Beacon foreclosed on the mortgage. Nick Beni purchased the property from the bank in July of 1964, renovated it, and opened newly named Nick Beni’s Town House on November 4, 1964.

As I noted in the forward to this article, some reporters wrote from a human-interest perspective. I am including here a portion of that unknown author’s observations. It is unknown, because I have only a newspaper clipping to work from and it had been separated from its identification long ago.

It was a sad sight on this cold night to see this beautiful landmark go up in flames. This was a shame that a beautiful structure and landmark had to go up in smoke like that and in spite of the efforts of the many, many brave men who tried so hard to save this building, nothing could be done. This morning only the chimneys and some of the walls remained of the building.

At the scene on Tuesday, this reporter spoke to several people who could only shake their heads and say, "It's just awful; it was one of the oldest buildings in Fishkill". One lady stood, just looked, and you could see the moisture in her eyes. It seemed as though with the burning of the Town House, many beautiful memories of this lady had burned with it. It’s nice to know that the burning of a building is not just a thing to watch, but it also has quite a effect on the hearts of many people. It is a terrible thing that happened but thank God, it didn't take any of our loved ones with it.

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