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19 people displaced
due to Iuka Motel fire
Published Saturday, August 29, 2009
By L.A. Story
Staff Writer
IUKA — Nineteen people were displaced when a fire destroyed a room — and closed an entire section — at the Iuka Motel Thursday afternoon.
The fire occurred at the Iuka Motel, located on Quitman Street, around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon and the Iuka Fire Department arrived to find that Room 103 was heavily involved, according to a report by Iuka Fire Department Chief Brian Grissom.
“We extinguished the fire. Some of the other rooms suffered heat damage, but there was no other damage done to those rooms,” said Grissom.
Grissom noted that there was no one in Room 103 when the fire started — the room’s tenant had been at work at the time. The cause of the blaze is undetermined at this time. A box fan and the air conditioner were the only items known to be running at the time the tenant left the room, according to the report.
Because of the damage to the wiring, caused by the fire, the fire department had to kill power to the entire motel. Grissom said electricians will be working to isolate that section of the facility and soon return power to the rest of the motel.
There were 19 people displaced because of the blaze — five of whom were members of the family that managed the motel. Several people were temporarily taken to the Victorian Inn and some had other places they could go. The American Red Cross was called to the scene because of the number of people who had to be relocated, Grissom said.
“Many of them had to go to another motel to stay until they can get something resolved,” said Grissom. “They lived there ... they were not just traveling through and stopping to spend the night. That was their home.”
The City Inspector condemned Rooms 100-106 and that section of the motel will be closed until it is repaired and brought back up to code. Coincidentally, the Iuka Motel is located next door to Town and Country Furniture — a store which had just reopened last year after a devastating fire.
Although no human injuries were reported as a result of the motel fire, there was a large breed dog that perished in the room where the fire was located.
Grissom said the scene was finally cleared at 7:45 p.m., after all the tenants had been relocated.
