Story Created:
May 13, 2008 at 4:10 PM CST
Story Updated:
May 13, 2008 at 6:12 PM CST
May 12, 2008
Tuesday's windy conditions did not make things easy on firefighters as they battled a two alarm motel fire.
It broke out around 8 Tuesday morning at Americas Best Value Inn and suites on IH-37. No one was seriously injured, but the fire did prove to be a stubborn one to put out.
No one was occupying any of the rooms where the fire started, and according to firefighters that's fortunate because the wind ripped up the smoke causing some of the guests to suffer from smoke inhalation.
Lem McDonald, the motel's maintenance work was one of the first to see the fire coming from what appeared to be the third floor of the motel. He tells us it was scary especially scary for his wife who works in housekeeping.
"There were flames coming out of the third floor sidewalk," said McDonald. He briefly tried using a fire extinguisher before the fire department arrived, but the source of the fire was hard to find.
Corpus Christi Deputy Chief Mike Hernandez says the motel is a stucco facade building, and fires like this are extremely difficult to locate. Firefighters believe the blaze might have started in a wall space, and might be connected to some kind of electrical problem.
"You can see and smell the smoke, but you can't really locate the scene of a fire," said Chief Hernandez. He says firefighters used thermal imaging cameras
Those thermal imaging cameras help firefighters see in between floors. The cameras work by registering heat, whether it be body heat or heat caused by flames. The image the camera produces is essential when visibility is low.
The damage estimate is said to be around $40,000 to $50,000. The wind enabled the smoke to a whole lot of damage. The fire was on the windward side of the building.
