BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Battle Creek Fire Marshall is investigating a suspicious fire that broke out at a motel on the same day the business was temporarily shutting down.
Owners of the Econo Lodge on Capital Avenue agreed to make improvements at their facility and close for three months due to the high crime rate in the area including prostitution, drug use and code violations on top of several nuisance complaints. In fact, Battle Creek Police had been called to the motel nearly 500 times during a 13 month period.
Tuesday was the first day the Econo Lodge was shut down, but around 9:30 p.m. that night firefighters were called to the area and saw smoke coming through the roof.
Officials say the fire was hard to locate due to boarded up rooms and firefighters had to evacuate when they began to run low on air.
The blaze took several hours to bring under control due to the size, nature of the fire, and the extreme cold.
It was a team effort as crews battled the blaze. The Battle Creek Fire Department responded with three engines, two aerials, to squads, two command vehicles and an additional engine and staff vehicle for the called back firefighters, for a total of 28 firefighters and two command officers.
Battle Creek Police were on scene for crowd and traffic control, LifeCare Ambulance was on standby in case of injuries, the Department of Public Works was there to help salt roads and add barricades, and even the American Red Cross brought the crews food, water, and coffee.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
