Man Charged With Setting North Carolina Hotel Fire

HICKORY, N.C.--Hickory police arrested a man for arson in a fire that forced the evacuation of the Red Roof Inn on Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard Wednesday morning.

Richard Hollar, 47, of Maiden was charged with first-degree arson after he returned to the room that was registered in his name at the hotel, said Investigator Andy Kerley with the Hickory Police Department.

Christina Ewing was asleep at the Red Roof Inn when the hotel manager knocked on the door and told them they needed to get out.

"I knew something was wrong when he knocked on the door," she said. "He said there was a fire and we had to get out."

Ewing was staying with her two cats, four dogs and two daughters while they were looking for a place to live in Hickory. Two doors down, in room 224, is where the fire started.

"We're lucky there was an empty room between us and the room on fire," Ewing said.

The Hickory Fire Department was called at about 9 a.m. about the fire, which started in the back corner of the room near the sink, said Derik Martin with the fire department. The hotel had already been evacuated.

"A maintenance worker had attempted to extinguish it before we got here," he said.

Firefighters could be seen hosing down the room and surrounding area, sheets of water streaming down the walkway in front of the door, ensuring the fire wouldn't flare up.

The Catawba County Fire Marshal's Office is not releasing any details about what may have caused it the fire.

Hollar was jailed under a $40,000 bond.

Copyright 2012 - Hickory Daily Record, N.C.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service