Fire kills man inside barricaded Modesto motel room

Firefighters had to break through the barricaded door of a burning motel room to pull a tenant from inside on Sunday night, authorities said.

The 30-year-old Modesto man later died at Memorial Medical Center, the victim of an apparent suicide. His name was not available Monday.

According to the Modesto Fire Department, firefighters responded to Apex Inn at 11:50 p.m. on a report of the smell of smoke in the area. The motel is in the 2200 block of Yosemite Boulevard, just east of El Vista Avenue.

While driving up to the motel, firefighters spotted smoke coming from a window of one of the rooms. A nearby tenant had broken the window to get the smoke out. A thick plume of smoke then began to pour from the room.

Additional Modesto firefighters responded to the blaze, as did firefighters from Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District.

A total of 26 firefighters tackled the fire, but had a difficult time getting inside the room to search for tenants. It appeared that all of the furniture in the room had been barricaded against the door and the window, fire officials said.

Once firefighters got inside, the injured man was found near the room’s bathroom. The firefighters pulled out the man, who initially was treated by Modesto Fire Department medics before he was taken to the hospital. He was not breathing and did not have a pulse.

The firefighters contained the flames to the single motel room. Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set as an apparent suicide.

Fire officials said no other tenants were displaced. The fire caused an estimated $5,000 in damage to the room and its contents.

This story was originally published January 19, 2015 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Fire kills man inside barricaded Modesto motel room."