Popular Canandaigua restaurant Nolan's destroyed by massive fire

A four-alarm fire destroyed a popular Canandaigua restaurant Thursday morning. 

An excavator grabs a portion of the building to open it up to firefighters to extinguish the hot spots.

Authorities were called to Nolan's restaurant at 726 S. Main St. in Canandaigua about 5:25 a.m., said Ben Cramer, the acting chief of the Canandaigua Fire Department. The fire was deemed under control four hours later, though crews remained at the scene Thursday.

Four ladder trucks set up around the restaurant doused the flames Thursday and an excavator was used to demolish parts of the one-story building so firefighters could access and extinguish the fire, he said.

No injuries were reported and it was not immediately known what sparked the blaze, Cramer said.

Emergency responders were initially called to the scene after a passerby reported that smoke was rising from the roof. About 80 firefighters from nine departments in Ontario and Yates counties assisted at the scene.

Cramer said he arrived on Main Street to see smoke "pushing out from all the eaves" of the building. Firefighters initially started dousing the fire from inside the restaurant, but backed out due to safety concerns. Gas from gaslines fed the fire, ultimately catching the lines on fire, until those lines were shut down by Rochester Gas and Electric Corp., Cramer said.

South Main Street in Canandaigua is expected to remain closed for much of the day, said Sgt. Ryan Allen of Canandaigua Police Department.

Nolan's on Canandaigua Lake is an upscale restaurant located near the New York Wine and Culinary Center at the north end of Canandaigua Lake and the Canandaigua City Pier. It moved to the Main Street location in 2014.

The property at 726 S. Main St. is owned by local businessman and developer David Genecco. He said he's not sure what is next for the property and whether Nolan's will be rebuilt on the same spot.

"It's a little premature to say now," he said Thursday morning.

Genecco also owns property in Canandaigua, including the former Steamboat Landing site, where the stalled lakeside hotel project is located. The lakeside parcel is currently zoned for commercial use, specifically for the unfinished hotel project that leaves a steel skeleton next to Kershaw Park.

While smoke was present in nearby buildings like the culinary center, no other buildings were damaged.

The D&C will bring you more on this developing story. Check back for details.