TRR photo by David Hulse Curious onlookers are pictured examining the gutted remains of the Hawks Nest Restaurant following last Wednesday’s early morning fire. (Click for larger image)

Hawks Nest Restaurant destroyed by fire

By DAVID HULSE

SPARROWBUSH, NY — Neighbor Cheryl Bartlett said she heard a thump that sounded like one of her kids falling out of bed. When she investigated, she saw the thump had been an explosion outside and that Hawks Nest Restaurant, which is across the highway from her home, was in flames.

While the cause was not immediately determined, the near-midnight, early October 30 fire apparently started at the rear west wall and enveloped the river side of building, which clings to the ledges west of the famous roadway turns.

“It was a picture you’ll carry in your mind,” Sparrowbush Fire Chief Jack Flynn said of his first view of the fire as he first saw it from cliffs on Route 97.

“I knew it was going to be the most challenging fire I’d ever seen,” he said. The ledges and the 200 to 300-foot drop-off reduced firefighters’ ability to get to the fire, and the high mountainside location of the landmark restaurant made getting water difficult.

Flynn set up water pumping locations in Sparrowbush and Mongaup, drawing river water from either side as the roadway was closed.

He called in mutual aid from 16 New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey companies. Some 175 firefighters were involved in the fight to control the fire, which went on until about 5:00 a.m., Flynn said. The last truck left at 10:00 a.m.

Containment was made more difficult because of the construction, as the restaurant had many additions to the original structure. “We’d knock it down in one place, and see it somewhere else,” Flynn said.

The restaurant was closed at the time of the fire and there were no injuries to employees or firefighters, Flynn said. Firefighters managed to retrieve two motorcycles, which owner Ron Babcock had stored inside. Babcock was not available for comment, but Flynn said the owner stated that he plans to rebuild.

State police and Orange County fire determiners examined the scene, and employed an accelerant-sniffing dog. Flynn said there was no immediate evidence of foul play, but Sparrowbush firefighters had fought a suspicious 4:00 a.m. fire at an abandoned house only five days earlier, so a precautionary investigation was needed.

“It was a very hot, hot fire,” Flynn said.