Blaze Burns At Downtown Hotel, Firefighter Injured
EL PASO, TX. – It’s every firefighter’s nightmare: a multi-story fire at a hotel, and El Paso’s Bravest faced it first-hand Saturday night. 100 firefighters battled the blaze before dousing the flames in just 30 minutes.
Fortunately, the scenario was set at the abandoned International Hotel, at the corner of Missouri and El Paso streets in Downtown El Paso and there were no guest to evacuate. None-the-less, the blaze was an intense, scary battle for the crews on the scene.
Crews tell ABC-7 that the flames broke out around 7 p.m. Saturday night and forced the closure of several nearby streets. EPFD’s Lt. Mario Hernandez says his men are very familiar with the structure.
Lt. Hernandez tells ABC-7 that, “This place has a lot of history…we’ve seen transients in here in the past, so we’re doing a sweep on every floor to make sure no one is inside.” According to the Fire Marshal’s office, the flames were confined to just two rooms on the eighth floor.
Emergency crews tell ABC-7 that one firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion. The Fire Marshal’s office continues to investigate the blaze.
Just two weeks ago, El Paso Police were called out to the same location to investigate objects being thrown from the hotel and onto the streets below.
