OVID, N.Y. (WENY) -- On Tuesday, January 21, a massive fire caused by a charging device destroyed several buildings lining Main Street in Ovid. Months later, owners of some of those building owners are speaking out to share what they have been facing in terms of cleanup.

On Wednesday, a press conference was held by local officials to provide recovery updates to the community.

Ronald Carmona, the owner of Italian Kitchen, Brent Eva, the owner of the Main Street Laundromat and apartment buildings, and Eric Reece, the owner of Uptown Diner, have all teamed up to organize and pay for clean-up efforts on the block.

They say they were not made aware of the conference and want to share their perspectives with the community as well.

 "Obviously, this is a loss for the whole community, but it's our loss," said Carmona. "We are responsible for the cleanup. We are responsible. We lost our business, our livelihood. We lost everything."

Immediately after the fire, Carmona says the focus among him, Eva, and Reece was to help employees and Main Street apartment residents find new jobs and places to live.

Reece and his family not only lost the Uptown Diner, but, they were among those residents who lost their homes.

After working to assist displaced individuals, with help from the community's fire relief fund, they realized they needed to switch gears and lead the charge on cleanup and recovery efforts. They say the process is not as simple as some may think.

"There really is no help coming from the town or the village or the state or anyone to pay for the cost of this cleanup, and nobody's doing it for free, although we're getting a lot of help from some of the companies involved," said Eva. "So people seem shocked when we talk about, well, we actually, the business owners, have to pay for that. And then the next thing they say is well, insurance covers that right and well, no, no, actually the insurance does not cover it."

The three men share that the estimated cleanup cost for their buildings and the Big M Supermarket is around $255,000. This does not include funds to bring officials in to address environmental concerns after the debris is taken away.

However, they say in speaking out, they are simply looking to let their community know what exactly is happening, set the record straight about cleanup status, and say who exactly is involved in doing so.

They say none of the actions they are taking would be possible without support from the community.

"The words of support and the encouragement," said Reece. "It's been overwhelming and you know everyone asked the million-dollar question if we're going to rebuild, and that's something that we can't really define yet. We can't really say we are or not, because we don't know what the future is going to hold."

Reece, Eva, and Carmona also credit Sessler Wrecking, Seneca Meadows, Spring Meadows Apartments, and more for helping them and the residents during the ongoing recovery efforts.

Additionally, the three shared an official start date for cleanup, Monday, April 7.

Once that is complete, they will have to work with environmental officials to see what can be done with the block.