St. Charles Motel Largely Destroyed by Wednesday Night Fire

St. Charles, MN (KROC-AM News) - A motel in St. Charles went up in flames last night.

The St. Charles Police Department says the blaze was reported just after 8 PM at the Whitewater Valley Motel in the 400 block of West 6th Street. The initial call was for smoke coming from the walls of one of the motel rooms and the roof.

Guest Spotted Smoke

A news release says one of the motel guests indicated that he exited his room after losing power and spotted heavy smoke coming from the roof. The guest then alerted an employee of the motel, who made the 911 call.

Saint Charles Police Evacuated Guests

The first St. Charles police officer to arrive at the scene began evacuating the other guests and the owners. The statement says St. Charles firefighters located the fire in the attic of the building and determined that it had already spread through a large portion of the motel.

Highway 14 Temporarily Closed

The size of the fire led to the temporary closure of Highway 14 in St. Charles and a request for mutual aid assistance from the Lewiston and Altura Fire Departments. The news release says that it took about 3 hours from the initial report of the fire to extinguish the flames.

Suspected Cause

St. Charles police say an electrical malfunction inside one of the walls is the suspected ignition source. Approximately 70% of the motel was destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

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