At 6:39 Saturday morning, Ellenville Fire Department received a call that a fire had broken out at the old Nevele resort. By 7 a.m., fire companies all across the area were awake and the sirens were going.

Firefighters and equipment from Ellenville, Summitville, Napanoch, Walker Valley, and Kerhonkson responded and within a few minutes the battle to contain the blaze had begun.

The fire broke out in the old main entrance lobby area, which was engulfed in flames up to the roofline. The building is still standing and the fire did not spread to other buildings on the complex. By 5 p.m., the fire was out and firefighters had left the scene. Some had been on site since early in the morning, almost twelve hours before.

This is the second blaze to break out at the Nevele in the past nine months. On March 20, 2024 a two-alarm fire started there inside the Winter Lodge building, which was largely destroyed. That fire began around 9 p.m. and was out by 9:30 the next morning.

The property was bought by Arrowhead LLC in October 2023, following lengthy negotiations with iStar Bank. Arrowhead is related to the Somerset Group, an investment and development company that had been pursuing the Nevele property for years. Keith Rubinstein has been prominent from that group, and has often spoken of visits to the Nevele in his childhood.

Mayor Evan Trent of Ellenville offered a "huge thank you to the firefighters who got there so quickly and managed to bring this under control. Any big fire like this is scary, and fortunately they were able to get hold of it and stop it spreading.”

The Ellenville Fire Department had not yet released any statement. The cause is under investigation by the New York State Office of Fire Prevention & Control. Several outlets have reported that unnamed officials have described the fire as “suspicious.” The March, 2024 fire which destroyed the Winter Lodge was found to have been arson, but no arrests were made.

“Although we are not sure what caused this fire," Town of Wawarsing Supervisor Terry Houck said, "we suspect it was a deliberate act as was the prior fire at that site. We will let the authorities investigate. Thankfully no one was hurt and also thankful that a quick response from our neighbors and fire companies who suppressed the fire.”

Nevele owner Keith Rubinstein told Houck, “I’d like to thank the quick response by all the dedicated fire district personnel to limit the damage and spread of this fire. Thank you to Ellenville Fire Chief Jody Krom for coordinating the response in fighting this fire. Also, Ulster County Emergency Response Coordinator Mike Gaffney and the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control Investigators on the site.”

Rubinstein had apparently put in a solar-powered security system in recent months but discussion is underway on whether live security should be implemented. The town has had that discussion with Arrowhead LLC. Conversations were underway for a deal in which the Ellenville Police Department would provide security on the grounds, but it fell through. One official believes that’s EPD doesn’t have jurisdiction. Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion didn’t respond to comment at time of publication.

The discussion around increasing security at the Nevele continued through the week. Then, on Wednesday, January 15, five days after the Saturday fire, fire crews from Ellenville, Napanoch, Cragsmoor, Walker Valley, Kerhonkson, and Summitville, accompanied by the Ulster County Fire Investigation team, rushed out to the Nevele again.

Word of a new fire broke through an unofficial Facebook page that tracks emergency incidents in the county. “Again?” asked six different commenters under the post. The office of the County Executive told us that this second fire was started “on the roof of an 8-story building which sits adjacent to the building that burned on Saturday.”

We contacted the Ellenville and Napanoch Fire Departments about the second fire. Ellenville did not respond to our inquiries, but Napanoch called it “nothing really big.”

The fire was located in “the main hotel rooms.” The crews, dispatched at 4:32 a.m., were “only out for about an hour,” so by the time most people woke up, everything was back to normal.

When we visited the Nevele a few hours later, there was no sign of the fire nor of any remnants of the crew remaining.

“Gotta hire security for the grounds at this point, no?” asked one Facebook commenter.