2-alarm blaze strikes Best Western on the Causeway; Press-Register photographer spots fire

Published: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 6:34 AM ??? Updated: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 1:48 PM

MOBILE, Alabama -- A 2-alarm fire was reported at 4:04 this morning at the Best Western Battleship Inn on the Causeway that runs across Mobile Bay.

Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control quickly. The blaze first was reported by John David Mercer, a Press-Register photographer who was returning home on the Bayway after shooting photos of the lunar eclipse.

Mercer saw flames shooting about 20 feet in the air from the motel, got off the Bayway onto the Causeway, returned to the hotel, ran into the front lobby and told the on-duty manager that there was fire coming from the roof and to call 911, according to Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman.

Mercer then ran to the building, pulled the electronic alarm and began going door to door, waking the hotel guests and notifying them of the fire. Everyone was evacuated without incident or injury, Huffman said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Huffman said. All the fire damage appears to be in the attic and roof and no rooms suffered fire damage, though there was water damage from firefighting activities.

Twelve units, including the city's fireboat. responded to the call.

This is the second fire at the motel this year. On Feb. 26, dozens of guests were evacuated from their rooms? after a fire swept through the east building's breezeway. That blaze was extinguished in about 10 minutes, Huffman said at the time, and no one was injured.

Evidence collected from that fire showed it was set on purpose, fire officials said. The February fire started in 2 outside storage units and never reached inside the hotel or any rooms, Huffman said.

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Post updated at 7:08 a.m. to include information regarding previous fire at the motel. Updated again at 7:37 a.m. to include a gallery of photos from today's fire. Last updated 8:52 a.m. to include more details of the fire and its discovery by Press-Register photographer John David Mercer.

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