No injuries were reported after a fire early this (Sunday) morning heavily damaged the Super 8 Hotel north of Walnut. Doug Reed, with Pottawattamie County Emergency Management, told KJAN News the fire was reported at around 6:40-a.m., with smoke and flames visible. Reed said the first crews on the scene confirmed the assessment. Hotel management advised all 31 rooms were occupied, but everyone got out safely and was accounted for.

Doug Reed, w/Pott. County EMA, points out where the fire is believed to have started.

Firefighters were able to get a quick knock down of the flames, and were on the scene hours later making sure hot spots were doused in the adjacent structure to the north. Reed said late Sunday morning, that crews were making some “trench cuts” in the roof, and pulling the ceiling down in some areas, to ventilate the smoke. Reed said a dozen agencies were on the scene, including nine fire departments (Walnut, Atlantic, Marne, Oakland, Hancock, Harlan, Avoca and Shelby), the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, and Pott. County EMA. There was a total of 36 trucks and 75 personnel working the scene. The Minden Fire Department was enroute for “Mobile Air Support,” to supply fresh air packs for the firefighters. Reed said several tanker trucks made repeated water shuttle operations from sources in Walnut to the fire scene. By 9:30-a.m., 8,000 gallons of water was on location, with more on the way. There were no fire hydrants nearby to draw from.

Reed said the fire is believed to have started on the north side of the pool area. The cause the fire won’t be determined until an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office is able to make an assessment. Water was provided by the Cenex Store in the area of the Hotel, and coffee was made available from Emma Jeans Restaurant, across the way from the Hotel. Roberto Jimenez, from Galveston, Texas, was staying in the hotel while working on the Elite Octane Ethanol Plant in Atlantic. He told reporters he woke around 6-a.m. to the smell of smoke in his room, and thought at first someone was having a barbecue, but soon realized the smoke was coming from elsewhere. He got locked out of his room in the process, and was unable to grab about $3,000 worth of electronic equipment uses for his job.

Jimenez said when he came outside in only his shorts, he saw flames shooting out of the pool area. He ran out barefoot and without a jacket, but one was given to him to keep warm.  (Ric Hanson/photos)