Quick Work by Calif. Firefighters Limits Damage to Motel

MODESTO, Calif. -- A fire broke out at the Modesto Inn late Thursday afternoon, sending one person to the hospital and possibly displacing others.

Firefighters were called to the motel, at 807 Needham St. just north of downtown, at 5:08 p.m. on a report of fire on the second floor, according to Chief Hugo Patino of the Modesto Regional Fire Authority.

When they arrived, they saw flames coming from two units and pushing into a third at the corner of the west side of the U-shaped motel.

"Someone yelled, ?Fire! Fire! Get out,' " said Andrew Garcia, who lives across the hall from one of the units that caught fire. "I grabbed my lady and said, ?Let's go.' "

All the occupants quickly were evacuated and firefighters went into offensive mode. They had the blaze controlled in about 15 minutes, Patino said.

He said the fire started on the two units' balcony, but investigators had not determined how. Someone had just left a room, was alerted to the fire, went back in and saw the flames.

Whipping winds of up to 19 mph blew large amounts of smoke south into downtown.

Motel resident T.R. Reed, who lives on the east side of the building, said he was sitting in his room when all of a sudden, it got very dark.

"The sun just went away," he said. "I looked out of the window and saw a little bit of smoke. I came out of the room and came around to the front and it was thick with smoke."

Patino said quick work by his firefighters -- and the fact the doors into those two units were closed -- kept damage to a minimum.

"Had those doors been open, and with the wind blowing as strong as it was, it could have blown the fire into the hallway," he said. "The hallway would then become a chimney."

Early Thursday evening, Patino said he was hoping residents affected by the damage could be moved into other units. He estimated the motel to be a one-third to half full.

The U-shaped building's east end didn't appear to be damaged.

However, the occupants' return would be based on whether power and gas could be restored to the building.

The motel is mostly home to transients, Patino said, who pay rent on a month-to-month basis.

Garcia, who lives there with Teresa Jefferson and pays $665 a month, said they're paid up through June 2.

Asked where he would go if he couldn't return there, he said: "We'd be homeless. We don't have anywhere to go."

Patino said he didn't know why one man was taken to the hospital, but the man was alert and talking as he was being wheeled into an ambulance.

Initial damage was estimated at $50,000, but it could go higher, Patino said.

Copyright 2012 - The Modesto Bee, Calif.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service