Massive Fire Burns Down Ellenville NY Filming Site for HBO Series

ELLENVILLE, NY—A massive fire early Thursday tore through an Ellenville used car dealership where an HBO TV production was being filmed.

No one was hurt in the fire at the 613 Automotive Group at 188 South Main St., said Village of Ellenville Police Chief Phillip Mattracion.

Ellenville police, the Ellenville building inspector, the Ulster County Arson Task Force and state police were among those investigating the fire's cause throughout the day Thursday.

Mattracion confirmed that HBO had been using the dealership to film "I Know This Much Is True," a TV miniseries slated for 2020, starring Mark Ruffalo, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Rosie O'Donnell and other notables.

In the miniseries, Ruffalo plays middle-aged Dominick Birdsey, who recounts his troubled relationship with Thomas, his paranoid-schizophrenic twin brother, and efforts to get Thomas released from an asylum, according to the Internet Movie Database.

An HBO security guard at the site swiftly called 9-1-1 after spotting the fire break out just before 1 a.m., a general manager for the dealership said.

But the fire quickly ravaged the 10,650-square-foot steel-framed, cinder-block building, which featured a showroom, a repair garage and storage for autos and parts, Mattracion said.

Mattracion surveyed the site Thursday, standing amid twisted steel beams, sooty cinder blocks, and the nearly indistinguishable remnants of charred HBO production trailers, grip trucks and film equipment.

He described a giant orange glow, unrivaled heat, a fire that spread so fast that it was "beyond reason" and a blaze so big that "it was just unfathomable."

Authorities shut Route 209, from north to south, from Oak Ridge Road to Center Street in Ellenville, as the Ellenville Fire Department and 14 other departments from Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties battled the blaze for several hours, the chief said. The last hot spots were extinguished at 11 a.m. Thursday.

HBO spokespeople said filming on the show "had concluded earlier in the evening ... the fire is currently under investigation," and "we expect to resume production shortly."

A general manager for 613 Automotive Group said HBO employees were crying at the site on Thursday, they'd been working diligently for weeks, and "it's not easy to see their hard work go up in flames."

The general manager released a statement on behalf of Levi Hecht, managing partner for the 613 Automotive Group, which has other dealerships in New Hampton and Monticello.

The fire is "terrible and heart wrenching. This (auto dealership) is our job. We live it. We breathe it. It's a business we've built up, and to see it burned down in just a few hours makes us very emotional. It's a miracle and a blessing, and we thank god, no one was hurt ... We do not know if we will rebuild. ... For now, we just want to thank the firefighters and police."

Built in 1965, the dealership was home to the Collier Motor Car Company, until it closed in 2009 amid GM's financial troubles at the time. 613 Automotive Group bought and reopened it around 2013, the dealership's general manager said.

Brian Schug, Jr., the village's building inspector, was not immediately able to check if the building had any code violations. But he confirmed that the fire badly damaged three nearby trailer homes for local residents.

Mattracion said several antique cars on the site also were damaged, but it's unclear how many. HBO had recruited local residents to use their vehicles.

The dealership's general manager wasn't certain how many vehicles 613 Automotive Group lost, but some of its vehicles were inside a building being serviced during the fire.

Mattracion commended local fire departments for extinguishing one of the biggest fires he's seen in 20 years.

"The local fire departments here really did a yeoman's job in attempting to save the structure," Mattracion said. "They fought the fire gallantly and bravely, but the fire had spread so rapidly there was just no chance in saving it."

"One sad part here is that HBO Productions was filming at this location, and Ellenville was finally going Hollywood," Mattracion added. "It's also tragic to see the destruction of a building that's been in Ellenville so long."

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