BREEZEWOOD, Pa. (WJAC) — Saturday, multiple fire crews battled a massive hotel fire in Breezewood until early morning.
Almost all of the Econo Lodge on Lincoln Highway was destroyed by the flames. It wasn't clear at first if the hotel was operational, but according to officials, it was.
Hotel manager Jeff Wracher said more than a dozen people were currently living there on a monthly basis. But on Jan. 3, he says people were given notice to vacate because the water had to be shut off in order to repair the sewage system. On Jan. 10, Wracher said the sewage system was fixed and there was no longer an order to vacate the hotel.
East Providence Township also confirmed the hotel was not operational from Jan 3-10.
Friday evening, before the fire on Saturday broke out, there was a small electrical fire on second floor of the hotel, according to Toby Colledge, chief of Breezewood Fire Department.
The electricity at the Econo Lodge was then shut off, according to Pennsylvania State Police. With no electricity in the building, the American Red Cross of the greater Pennsylvania region said it helped 17 people who were staying there find a place to go.
"We were there from November 2017. It's hard to find places to rent with big dogs, so that's why we were there, they're family," said Jessica Stump, who had been living at the Econo Lodge with her fiance and two dogs.
Pennsylvania State Police and Fire Marshal are still investigating the cause of Saturday's fire. Almost the entire roof of the Econo Lodge is gone, and debris is scattered around the parking lot. You can see right into some of the rooms.
Saturday's fire rekindled early Sunday morning. Crews put out hot spots for several hours.
Melvin Grover, who had been staying at the hotel for several months, said he paid Wracher $600 a month to stay there.
But now, people like Grover and Stump must move on.
"We have somewhere we're going, so we had friends and family looking out afterwards so we're pretty much good," Stump said.
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