ESCANABA, MI-- Two people have died in an Escanaba motel fire.
Thursday around 12:40 p.m. Escanaba Public Safety was dispatched to the Delta Inn Motel on Ludington Street. Flames were coming through the roof of the two-story building when firefighters arrived and occupants of the second floor were escaping by climbing on the roof of the adjacent Hiawatha Motel.
High winds made fighting the fire more difficult. Public Safety deployed its aerial unit and the Escanaba Township Fire Department deployed its platform unit to battle the flames and protect the Hiawatha.
It took about three hours and three dozen firefighters to bring the blaze under control. Once extinguished, officers removed two bodies from the scene: a 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy. Both lived at the motel.
Three other people were injured in the fire. A 66-year-old man was taken to St. Mary’s Burn Center in Milwaukee; a 60-year-old man was transferred to UPHS-Marquette for a fractured spine sustained when he jumped to safety; and a 73-year-old man was taken to St. Francis Hospital with minor burns. He was later released.
The Michigan State Police Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Public safety officers are thanking bystanders who helped people get out of the motel.
Assisting at the scene were the Ford River Township Fire Department, Escanaba Township Fire Department, Rampart EMS, Michigan State Police from the Gladstone Post, the Delta County Sheriff’s Office, Escanaba City Electric, DTE, Delta County Victim Advocacy, and the American Red Cross.
