Large fire in Wayland damages businesses

WAYLAND, N.Y. (WHEC) — Fire crews battled a big fire in Steuben County Tuesday that has damaged businesses and displaced several people.

At one point, smoke could be seen for blocks from the fire on North Main Street in the historic downtown area of Wayland. It broke out at around 11 a.m.

It took about three hours, crews from 10 fire departments and two departments on standby to extinguish the fire.

Crews say two businesses—a Chinese restaurant and a tattoo parlor—took the brunt of the damage. They aren’t sure how many are affected in total, but gas and electric lines to all of them were shut off as a precaution.

Fire Coordinator and Steuben County Director of Public Safety Tim Marshall said Wayland is a small community and it relies on these businesses to thrive.

"If you look at the buildings here there’s you know limited amount of downtown still left here and Wayland and this is going to be a major effect on the community," Marshall said.

There are seven apartments above the shops. Firefighters say they aren’t sure how many people are displaced, but they are working with Red Cross to help get them housing. All residents are accounted for.

Marshall says this is a community area downtown. He says roughly 7 apartments affected. Doesn’t have info on how many displaced. The owner of the tattoo shop believes an air fryer started the fire in an apartment above his business. @news10nbc

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There are no reports of injuries at this time, but there are reports of some missing pets.

Investigators have not officially determined the cause of the fire.

News10NBC has a crew on the scene working to get more information on this developing story.

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These images were captured by Dan Dangler Photography.