Lightning sparks motel fire as 80 mph winds blow in with storm

A lightning strike from Thursday evening’s storms is believed to have sparked a two-alarm fire at a west Wichita motel.

Wichita Fire Battalion Chief Sid Newby said during the storm Thursday evening, firefighters received calls for “numerous lightning strikes, house fires,” spreading firefighters thinly throughout town.

Around 9 p.m., a lightning strike and building fire was reported at the Western Holiday Motel, 8925 W. Kellogg.

The first crew to arrive came from downtown, Newby said, and saw flame and smoke coming from the attic of the structure.

No one was in the affected room, Newby said.

The building was evacuated, and that fire crew had to work it solo until more firefighters could be called to the scene, Newby said.

“They worked it by themselves for quite a while and did an outstanding job of holding it in check until we had other units that were spread out all over town because of the storm get here,” Newby said.

A significant challenge, Newby said, was posed by the firefighters’ oxygen tanks.

They provide air for 45 minutes, “but when you’re working hard, that’s about 20 to 25 minutes,” Newby said.

“Once they run out of air in a smoke-filled, confined structure, they have to come out,” he said. “If there’s nobody to relieve them, then we have a problem.”

Crews cut ventilation holes in the roof of the building, he said, to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent rooms.

“That helped us a lot,” he said. “That’s what it’s supposed to do – go up rather than out. It helped out fire crews as well as the occupants.”

Once the crews got water on the fire, it was extinguished in 10 to 15 minutes.

Damage was confined to three rooms and the roof of the building, he said.

The owner of the motel is working to find places for the occupants to stay for the evening, Newby said.

No injuries were reported.

Newby commended the initial responding fire crew for effectively containing the fire until backup arrived.

“They did an excellent job,” he said. “The city did well with moving people around – it’s just that we try to catch up. That was a huge storm. We had a lightning strike to the north of here and two to the interior of town.

“Just a busy night, but they did a very good job.”

Fire investigators will work to determine an official cause, though firefighters believe it was lightning. A damage estimate was not immediately available.

Fire crews will likely stay through the night on the scene, watching for potential flare-ups, Newby said.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 9:28 PM with the headline "Lightning sparks motel fire as 80 mph winds blow in with storm."