A fire tore through a hotel under construction in Elyria early Monday morning, sending flames roughly 15 feet into the air and causing part of the roof to collapse, according to fire officials.
Elyria Assistant Fire Chief Dean Marks said the call came in before 2 a.m. and was initially reported as "smoke in the area." Police driving by the property, however, could see flames coming from the building.
No one was inside the hotel at the time of the fire, Marks said, and no injuries have been reported.
Firefighters from Sheffield and Avon joined Elyria crews at the scene as they worked for hours to bring the fire under control. Marks said some of the most significant damage was concentrated in a back corner of the building, where the roof collapsed, and fire continued to burn underneath.
The response continued into the morning.
After hours of work, some equipment at the scene was running low on fuel, and a diesel truck was brought in to keep operations going.
The cause of the fire is not immediately known. Investigators will work to determine how the fire started once crews are able to safely access the damaged portions of the building.
The building was Hilton's dual-brand Home2 Suites and Tru by Hilton under construction on Traveler’s Lane near Midway Mall. The 153-room hotel had not yet opened and was still being built when the fire broke out.
Sunrise Hospitality LLC recently announced the project had reached its “topping off” milestone, marking the completion of the hotel’s main structural framework. The approximately $6.2 million project had been expected to open this November.
Hotel management at the scene told News 5 they did not believe anyone was inside the building when the fire started. They also described the morning as emotional after putting months of work into the project and watching the building suffer significant damage.
No nearby hotels had to be evacuated. The fire hose did block many guests from being able to leave a nearby hotel's parking lot for hours while firefighters worked the fire.
The hotel was expected to create between 25 and 35 full-time jobs and another 10 to 20 part-time positions.
Sunrise Hospitality already operates a Hampton Inn and Courtyard by Marriott near the property, as well as a Homewood Suites in Sheffield.
For Elyria, the loss extends beyond the building itself. The hotel was a key piece of the city's redevelopment of the Midway Mall area.
"It's devastating because we're losing a huge economic component," Mayor Kevin Brubaker said.
Other projects are also underway in the area as part of the broader redevelopment effort.
"We have senior housing getting ready to go up 115 units just a mile from here— 122 units of affordable housing going up a mile from here, redevelopment of the mall, retail, restaurants, and this was a big component of that," Brubaker said.
Despite the loss, Brubaker said the hotel will be rebuilt and expressed confidence in the community's resilience.
"Elyria is a strong community, and we're going to build back stronger, and he's going to build back better. So, Elyria, stay strong and stay with Deshawn Dots and Sunrise Hospitality," Brubaker said.
