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Fire ‘suspicious,’ chief says
LIBERTY
A fire broke out at an abandoned motel along Motor Inn Drive Saturday evening, and the Liberty Township fire chief is calling it “very suspicious.”
The old motel behind the MetroPlex on Belmont Avenue caught fire around 6:30 p.m., according to Trumbull County 911 dispatch.
Girard and Vienna Township fire departments were also at the scene, and Liberty Chief Gus Birch said about 8:30 p.m. that he would be calling for the East Side water shuttle to help put out the fire from the outside.
He said several fire departments from the east would arrive to help shuttle water to drown the fire.
He said he would not send firefighters into the building.
“It’s not safe. Floors and walls are collapsing,” he said.
The fire had spread into the roof of the two-story motel and was running across it, he said. The end of the building had collapsed by then.
Birch said there was no indication yet of the cause, but it is suspicious because the building has no electricity or heat. There was an arson in the same area of the building in August.
The building has been abandoned for many years and is not secure. There are broken windows and open doors, and squatters use it.