Travel Lodge fire leaves dozens in need of places to stay

Dec. 31—Tony and Felicia Gardner were among those looking for temporary accommodations Friday evening after a fire at the Terre Haute Travel Lodge at 530 S. Third St. in Terre Haute.

No one was injured in the fire, which was contained to one room, said Bill Berry, city fire chief.

"The cause is not suspicious in nature, however, it is still under investigation," he said.

Firefighters responded to the call about 3:11 p.m.

"Smoke was showing as the first company arrived," Berry said. Firefighters quickly put out the fire and cleared smoke from other rooms.

The fire department was on the scene for about two hours.

The Red Cross was contacted and will help with displaced occupants, Berry said.

The Gardners were among those awaiting assistance from the American Red Cross about 6 p.m.

Felicia is 23 weeks pregnant, and the couple had planned to stay at the motel for several days; Tony has a job in town and they are awaiting permanent housing. "It's stressful," she said.

While the fire was contained to one room, the facility's electricity had to be turned off and guests had to find another place to stay.

When the fire happened, "The maintenance guy was knocking on the door and telling us to get out," Tony Gardner said. The couple saw smoke coming out of a corner cleaning/laundry area.

Travel Lodge manager Alish Patel said the motel will be closed until at least Tuesday, when an inspector will be on site and "we'll go from there." He could not say how many people were affected.

"We shut off everything and everyone is leaving," he said. Guests were being refunded.

Also looking to the Red Cross for assistance was Theresa Harvey, who carried her dog, Hades; another dog was still in the room. She said she has lived at the motel for about 1 1/2 years.

She wasn't in the room when the fire occurred.

"I'm in total shock and I'm kind of scared what's going to happen from here," Harvey said. "I've been living here and almost every possession I have is in the room." Her room had no smoke damage.

Standing beside her was Sylvia Espinosa, who has lived at the motel for several years and has a second-story room.

"I'm still in shock," Espinosa said. "I was worried about her (Harvey's) dogs because she wasn't home."

Espinosa was in her room when the fire started and she heard a bunch of yelling. "When I looked outside, all you could see was all the smoke coming out," she said.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue