WATCH: Massive fire guts El Paso’s De Soto Hotel downtown

UPDATE #12: El Paso City officials respond to fire. In a news release titled "City Officials Appalled, Disappointed by the Tragic De Soto Hotel Fire" City Manager Tommy Gonzalez says: “We believe it extremely unfortunate to see this building be destroyed by a fire, just as we were bringing it back to life with the help of a private partner who was eager and willing to re-activate the blighted hotel and work to preserve the iconic murals on the western side of the building,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “This restoration was one of three active historic preservation projects the City has been working to incentivize. We plan on aggressively completing the historic preservation of the two other structures in downtown.”

UPDATE #11 7:41 p.m.: El Paso Fire department is tweeting that the bulk of the De Soto Hotel fire is knocked down. Fire officials report Crews are checking for hotspots. No injuries were reported at the time.

UPDATE #10 7:33 p.m.: Standing by for live news conference. No word on when it will start.

UPDATE #9 7:16 p.m.: Incident commander reports no injures, 24 units responded, as many as 60-70 firefighters responded. The roof did collapse. Entry into the building will not be made until the fire is out. This is a 4-story building. Crashing sounds during fire came from windows that were exploding. "We contained the fire," to the DeSoto building.

Determination will be made later whether the building is a total loss. No entry tonight, perhaps during the morning hours. No one was believed to be in the building.

UPDATE #8 6:47 p.m.: Smoke, flames have diminished.

UPDATE #7: A restaurant owner says he saw things quickly escalate out of control in about 5 minutes from the time he heard about the fire to when firefighters arrived.

UPDATE #6: Flames appear to be less intense than moments before.

UPDATE #5: Objects are seen falling from the building. Saul Saenz is reporting firefighters are asking people to stay away.

UPDATE #4: Parts of the roof of DeSoto Hotel have collapsed.

UPDATE #3: Firefighters are taking a defensive position.

UPDATE #2: Hotel guests at the nearby Indigo Hotel are being evacuated.

UPDATE #1: El Paso Fire is reporting the fire is located at the DeSoto hotel.

There are no injuries reported.

EL PASO, Texas – ABC-7 has received a report of a large fire in downtown El Paso. ABC-7 is working on learning more.

Early reports indicate the fire is located at a building on Mills.

The property is in the middle of a $1.2 million restoration project. In mid-December, the owners, Mills LLC, entered into an economic development agreement with the city of El Paso, allowing it to receive more than $58,000 in incentives.

The plan called for the renovation of the hotel's 34 units, described as "blighted" would consist of converting the upper floors to a standard hotel and rehabilitating the first floor's storefront, according to the presentation made to city council.

The owner was also trying to obtain additional funds for the façade and signage from a program administered by the the Downtown Management District.

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