Flames were raging through the front of the Lakeview Hotel and some residents were visible in their rooms when firefighters and Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived about 4:45 a.m. PST at the scene in an industrial area of this town of about 11,000 roughly 250 miles northeast of Vancouver, police officers said.
''All that's left is a shell. No one has been able to go inside,'' Constable Ben Parry said.
As of late Sunday no bodies had been recovered, regional coroner David Coverdale said from Prince George.
''We probably won't be able to get in there until (Monday) because of the heat,'' Coverdale said.
One woman jumped from a third-floor window to escape the flames, seriously injuring her legs, but is expected to recover fully, police said.
Dispatcher David Suderman of the British Columbia Ambulance Service said three ambulances took 14 people to Cariboo Memorial Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and other injuries.
''It's an old icon, an old building,'' Suderman said. ''They weren't sure who was home at the time because it's the weekend.''
Initially authorities believed five people were missing out of 17 people known to be living at the hotel, but the parents of one called to say their child was safe, police said.
There was a chance that at least some of those who remained unaccounted for might be alive, Parry said.
''I know that two people showed up at the hospital seven hours after the fire was reported, so certainly hope is not lost,'' he said. ''People have likely walked away from the fire and didn't feel they needed to be seen by medical professionals and have yet to come forward _ that's what we're hoping.''
