After John Erickson moved to Chautauqua County from Sweden, he constructed the Colony Motel in West Ellicott.

On Wednesday, his great-niece, Legislator Elisabeth Rankin, R-Jamestown, spoke about her uncle and the 22 unit motel that was destroyed in a fire the day before.

“Yay, Uncle John. It’s a little piece of family history that we’ve lost,” she said during the county legislature meeting.

Rankin talked about how the motel was popular with people throughout the region.

“It’s amazing when you think of a building like that can mean so much to so many people. All the comments you see about people driving by and missing it when they see it, people who used to sneak in and use the pool at night when they weren’t supposed to, and people who lived there when their house was being built,” she said.

Rankin also shared how proud she was to see so many different fire departments coming together in response.

“In addition to Celoron, we had Lakewood, Bemus Point, Fluvanna, Kennedy, Sherman, Ashville, Busti, Frewsburg, and yay, isn’t it awesome that they all responded. Chautauqua County Emergency Services, county EMS, Alstar EMS, Ellicott Police and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office also were assisting,” she said.

Rankin also thanked individuals and businesses who supplied first responders with food, water and coffee. “It’s a great way to show how a community can come together to help each other,” she said.

Legislator Lisa Vanstrom, R-West Ellicott, agreed. She gave a shout-out to Johnny’s Lunch and Farm Fresh Foods for their donations.

A thank you was given to Tim Hortons as well.

County Executive PJ Wendel said overall there were 14 different departments that assisted, including departments from Pennsylvania. He added that interim Public Health Director Dr. Michael Faulk and the county’s new Mobile Health Unit responded as well.

Wendel noted how 15 people were actually living at the motel when it caught fire.

“Many people called the Colony their home and everything that had were in those rooms and it was all lost,” he said.

Like Rankin and Vanstrom, Wendel praised the men and women who responded to the blaze.

“I’d just like to thank all the first responders and law enforcement especially. You just can’t say enough how everybody came together,” he said.

Firefighters were at the scene for more than 12 hours Tuesday. Wendel noted they had to return overnight after the fire reignited.

A cause of the fire has not been determined.