Fire breaks out at south Modesto motel

About 25 people staying in a South Ninth Street motel were displaced after a two-alarm fire there Wednesday.

The fire at the Budget Inn preliminarily has been determined an accident, caused by a lit cigarette a man was holding when he apparently fell asleep, said Ceres Interim Fire Chief Bryan Nicholes.

Other tenants reported seeing the man leave the room in which the fire originated. While a fire investigator searched for the man, officials from Doctors Medical Center contacted dispatch to report that a man suffering from smoke inhalation was in the emergency room, said Nicholes.

He said a fire investigator will review motel security footage.

Firefighters from the Modesto and Stanislaus Consolidated fire departments helped Ceres Fire battle the two-alarm fire, reported just before 10 a.m.

Everyone was evacuated from the motel. Firefighters and paramedics removed one woman in a wheelchair.

Four units – about a quarter of the total – burned, but power had to be shut off to the entire motel, so everyone staying there was displaced. The American Red Cross set up a temporary shelter to accommodate them, said Jessica Smart, public information officer for the Modesto Fire Department.

The fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damage.

Authorities closed Ninth Street in front of the motel while firefighters battled the blaze.

This story was originally published January 7, 2015 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Fire breaks out at south Modesto motel."