Fire destroys large portion of Conley Bottom Resort

Posted May 23, 2019 at 10:21 am

Conley Drone.psd

[Editor’s note: The following article was written for the most part by Wayne County Outlook News Editor Melodie Phelps, and is being reprinted here with permission. Portions of the article regarding the relationship between Conley Bottom and local dock owner Tony Sloan and Tom Allen, were contributed by NEWS Editor Al Gibson.}

An early morning fire Monday at Conley Bottom Resort created devastating damage at the popular marina. The Lighthouse Cafe, the marina store, the office building and a maintenance building were destroyed by the fire, according to Monticello Fire Chief Steve Ferrell.

Ferrell said his department was notified of the fire at 2:11 a.m., and when he arrived on the scene, three buildings were already engulfed in flames. Since the facility was closed, there was no one inside the buildings.

Tony Sloan, a Clinton County resident and long-time co-owner of Grider Hill Dock on Lake Cumberland, also was a co-owner of Conley Bottom Resort for many years.

Sloan, who also co-owns Sunset Dock and Resort on Dale Hollow Lake with Clinton County native Tom Allen, sold his interest in Conley Bottom in January of this year.

Allen told the Clinton County News on Monday morning that because of their close relationship with Sloan being a co-owner of both marina facilities, the two resorts worked closely together for many years.

“Sunset and Conley worked together and helped each other for 26 years due to Tony’s (Sloan) common ownership in both marinas. It’s a loss that hurts due to our close relationship over the years,” Allen said. :“Tragic loss for our friends and long time partners, we are sad and sick today!”

The Susie Fire Department was called out to provide mutual aid for a fire that proved to be difficult to battle, since fire trucks could not access the marina area where the buildings were burning. Ferrell said that the Wayne County Rescue Squad provided boats which helped firemen battle the blaze.

There was some concern about the gas pumps located on the dock, but Ferrell said they were not damaged in the fire. Ferrell said that several boats sustained some damage, including a john boat, a pontoon, and two houseboats. Two of those were marina owned vessels.

Ferrell said it was difficult to determine where the fire started.

He said securitypersonnel at the marina indicated they first saw the blaze in the restaurant building. The fire department remained on the scene until nearly 10 a.m. Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Monday morning, Conley Bottom Resort officials noted that despite the devastating fire at the dock, there was no loss of any private boats or rental boats.

Dock officials have stated that they are anticipating doing all rentals for the upcoming holiday weekend.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and Wayne County EMS also assisted at the scene.

The devastation to the structures at Conley Bottom Resort are shown in this drone photo taken Monday morning. The blaze, which was reported at about 2:30 Monday morning, destroyed the main dock building, including The Lighthouse Cafe, the marina store, the office building and a maintenance building,

Drone photo by Matt Wood, from the Wayne County Outlook