A fast-moving early morning fire tore through the Knights Inn on East Main Street in Endwell, killing six people and forcing dozens from their rooms, and now a 24-year-old local man is under arrest in connection with the blaze. Officials say the fire ripped along the motel corridor so quickly that parts of the building were left charred and uninhabitable within minutes.
State police identified the suspect as 24-year-old Tyler J. Russell, an Endwell resident, and said he was taken into custody Monday evening on multiple felony counts. Russell faces six counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of fourth-degree arson, was processed at the Endwell state police barracks, and then turned over to the Broome County Jail for centralized arraignment, according to WBNG.
Calls began flooding the Broome County 911 center at about 6 a.m. on Monday, June 22, reporting heavy smoke and flames at the motel. Firefighters who rushed to the scene found thick black smoke and flames pouring from the rear of the building as the fire rapidly spread through the structure. Multiple fire departments and ambulance companies responded, two people were hospitalized, and numerous residents were pushed out into the street with little more than what they could grab, according to Spectrum News 1.
The Knights Inn at 2603 East Main Street has in recent years doubled as temporary housing, and residents at the scene said they had repeatedly raised safety concerns about conditions at the property. As smoke still hung in the air, the Red Cross and local organizations scrambled to help evacuees, setting up a temporary shelter at a nearby church while state troopers secured the motel grounds, per WNBF.
Officials said the motel section had dozens of occupied rooms when the fire broke out. One report put the occupied room count at 34 and estimated that roughly 70 people were displaced. The Endwell Fire Department reported that more than 150 first responders cycled through the scene, and as crews worked into the day, community members showed up with pizza to keep firefighters going, according to WTSP.
Hotels Used as Emergency Housing Face Fresh Heat
Broome County’s reliance on motels like the Knights Inn for temporary housing is part of a broader pattern statewide, where counties place families in hotels that critics say can be plagued by long-standing safety and maintenance problems. An investigation by ProPublica found the Knights Inn and other motels used by social services districts had repeated inspection failures and numerous emergency calls over several years. Advocates say those findings now raise especially hard questions in the wake of this deadly fire.
State police say the investigation into the blaze remains active and that more information, including the identities of the victims, will be released later. Russell was processed at the state police barracks in Endwell and handed over to jail officials for arraignment, while Broome County prosecutors review the case in consultation with state police as the criminal probe moves forward, according to WHEC.
United Way of Broome County and other local organizations have opened emergency relief channels for those displaced, and county leaders say their immediate priority is supporting victims and first responders. Community members, relief groups, and county officials have remained a steady presence at the scene in the days after the blaze as investigators work to piece together exactly what happened, per WBNG.
