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Photo courtesy of Putnam County Fire Rescue Local 3529 – Firefighters ensure they extinguished a structure fire at Siesta Motel in East Palatka on Tuesday evening.
A fire ignited Tuesday at an East Palatka motel undergoing renovation, but no one was injured, emergency officials confirmed.
The fire began just after 8 p.m. at Siesta Motel, 283 U.S. 17, the Putnam County Fire Rescue Department confirmed on its Putnam County Fire Rescue Local 3529 Facebook page.
Fire Marshal and Deputy Chief Clu Wright said the fire began in a room near the motel’s office area. There is still much more information about the blaze to gather, he said.
“The investigation is still open on it,” Wright said.
The fire was contained quickly, according to the Facebook post.
Wright said the motel’s owner was out of the country during the fire. The Lakadawala family has owned the property since 1998, according to Putnam County Property Appraiser’s Office records.
Fortunately, Write said, there were no occupants at the motel because of ongoing work.
“It’s not open,” Wright said. “(The owners) are trying to remodel it. … They’re trying to reopen it.”
Tuesday was not the first time the motel has caught fire. The Daily News reported a fire damaging three rooms at Siesta in 2014. No one was hurt in the blaze, but the motel fire left nine families, a total of 18 people, without a place to live, the Daily News reported in April 2014.
Almost two years later, state and county officials declared Siesta Motel unsafe, the Daily News reported. Officials from the Putnam County Planning and Development Services Department, the Florida Department of Health in Putnam County, the Putnam County Public Works Department, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants agreed to condemn the structure.