The fire forced 64 people staying at the Homewood Suites to be evacuated along with the hotel staff. No injuries have been reported. Fire investigators are on the scene to determine the exact cause of the car fire. Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was at the hotel Monday afternoon, where there was still soot coating the parking deck. Hotel guest Aliyah Sall said she didn’t hear an alarm at all. “The only reason we knew something was going on was that someone was knocking on everybody’s doors saying, ‘Get out! Get out!’” Sall said. “And then we hear the firefighters coming up the stairs trying to get everybody out.” Guest Brian Graham said he’s been staying at the hotel for a month after a tree fell on his home. He’s now facing another potential disaster. “I heard some commotion,” Graham said.” I heard a loud sound, a boom, and people were yelling, ‘Fire! Fire! Get out!’”
Sall said the fire triggered the hotel’s sprinkler system. ‘The entire first and second floor is flooded or has water damage,” Sall said. “The roof is leaking inside. The floor is completely flooded.” Mims talked to the hotel’s manager, who said the hotel had some water and smoke damage, but the fire damage was limited to the parking deck. Investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire.