Small fire hits Red Roof Inn in Sutton, temporary home of migrants
SUTTON - Firefighters from Sutton and surrounding communities converged on the Red Roof Inn on Route 146 before noon for a reported fire inside a hotel room.
Multiple ambulances were summoned. Minutes later, the fire had been put out, with one person treated for smoke inhalation, according to authorities.
At the scene, Fire Chief Matthew Belsito said he observed heavy smoke coming from a second floor window.
Belsito said the person who was treated was in a hotel room where the fire started. The fire was contained to the room, with some roof damage visible.
Belsito said it appeared that unattended cooking on the stove appeared to have caused the fire. A spokesman for the state Department of Fire Services said the fire appeared to have started in a staff area.
The firefighting effort focused on the main part of the hotel, with fire hoses stretching into the office building.
The Red Roof Inn in Sutton is among the many hotels in the state being used to house migrants. Last month about 50 people, many of them from Haiti, were placed at the hotel.
The approach the state government took in settling the migrants was blasted by state Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton, who questioned why the migrants were placed in Sutton and not in municipalities with larger Haitian communities.
Fattman also said the state government did not give the town enough notice about the incoming migrants.
Also at the hotel were members of the National Guard, deployed statewide to assist at emergency shelters. It was the National Guard's first day at the Sutton hotel, the chief said.
Belsito said members of the National Guard attempted to extinguish the fire with two hoses but were unable to and later helped with evacuations.
"First day here they swung into action," Belsito said. "It was a perfect day to be their first day here because they assisted in getting the people out."
Belsito said public safety officials in the town had previously voiced their concerns to officials about the safety of keeping the migrants at the hotel. He pointed to the lack of a sprinkler system, there being no municipal water system at the hotel, and issues with the 911 system.
The hotel does not have a nearby water supply, so water had to be shuttled from a source 3,000 feet away, Belsito said.
"There have been some concerns that we pushed forward," Belsito said.
The occupants will be able to return to the hotel as long as the hotel gets its alarm system up and running, Belsito said. If the alarm is not running, the hotel will need to provide a fire watch — or the fire department will provide a watch at all times.
The chief said the town of Sutton has done an admirable job responding to the arrival of the migrants on Labor Day weekend including municipal and school staff.
As firefighters were winding down the scene, a school bus arrived to drop off some students to join a group of occupants waiting to go back into the hotel.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Small fire hits Red Roof Inn in Sutton
