Hi ,  I am Jim Duell and a Fire Photographer for the Perry Fire Department in Perry, NY. Being a Fire Photographer since 1972 I have taken a lot of pictures. This story is about a motel fire that happened on May 18, 2004. The place was a historical building on Main Street in Perry across from the Perry Fire Department. This was a total loss and was ruled to be an electrical problem in an upstairs room.

There was only one person taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke. The motel housed about 10 to 15 single men from the community who worked in the area. They all got out safely with them leaving all their belongings behind. The local Red Cross responded to the scene to get food, clothing & shelter for all of these men.

LOTS OF PICTURES TAKEN DURING THE 4 - ALARM FIRE

When the alarm came in around 2:00am on Tuesday May 18, 2004 the whole area was filled with smoke in a very short time. Living close enough to see the flames from my home I walked down a block and a half to the fire scene carring 2 - digital cameras. I usually do prints but, instead I used both digitals and next time I will stick with the film. The flash on both digitals wasn't powerful enough to cover the whole scene. I took about 200 pictures with both cameras and when we were done I went back home and downloaded the 2 picture cards into the computer and WOW !! These pictures were so dark that some couldn't even be seen. I was within 25 foot of the burning building and used the flash and I wish I had my 35mm Minolta. That wouldn't happen with the flash on my Minolta and 400 speed film. They would have been a lot better.

HAVING 6 MINOLTA 35MM CAMERAS

I use only Minolta Cameras & Lenses. I have used these since 1979 when I purchased my first Minolta XG-7 body with a 50mm lens. My latest is just last year was a Minolta Maxxum 5 Body and a Quantaray 28 - 90 mm AF Lens. This is very light and smaller than all the rest of my Minolta Bodies.

This was a picture I took when we were called back later in the day for a rekindle. The roof was completely off and the second floor and third floor was gutted and the first floor has lots of water damage. This will be torn down within the next couple of days.