Fire destroys hotel on Shore Drive in Norfolk

Aug. 05--NORFOLK -- A fire destroyed a hotel and displaced at least 60 vacationers and residents this morning on Shore Drive near East Little Creek Road.

The fire at M-Star Hotel in the 7900 block of Shore Drive was reported shortly before 9 a.m., according to dispatchers.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m., smoke from the fire could be seen from as far away as Lesner Bridge in Virginia Beach and Interstate 264 near downtown Norfolk.

Firefighters could see smoke and flames at the roof of the motel when they arrived, said Battalion Chief Julian Williamson. They called a second alarm and an additional fire company for help battling the blaze and to rotate personnel because of the heat.

The blaze was believed to have crept over fire walls inside the hotel and into the attic space where it spread to much of the u-shaped building. Williamson said firefighters put out the main body of the fire within an hour of arriving on scene. It was marked under control at 11:58 a.m., but firefighters were continuing to extinguish hot spots into the afternoon.

The fire destroyed most of the roof, but no injuries were reported, Williamson said.

Many guests of the hotel said they didn't hear any fire alarms, though the hotel's owner and maintenance supervisor both said the alarms were recently checked and were in good working order.

Guest Kaylee Schomisch said she didn't hear an alarm in her room. But her sister, who was staying in an adjacent room, did hear an alarm and pounded on her door to wake her. They hurried out, leaving almost all their belongings in their rooms.

"I wasn't worried about the shoes," Schomisch said, "I was worried about not getting burned."

Nick Lamastra said he was on his way to the management office when he ran into another resident who said he saw some smoke in his room. Lamastra told the manager and the two men investigated, but couldn't see the source of the smoke right away. When Lamastra realized the roof was on fire, he told the manager and they called the fire department. Lamastra went back to his room to get his cat, Luna. "The only thing I could think about was her," he said.

John Jenkins, another guest, said he called down to the hotel's main desk at about 8 a.m. He told the person at the desk the lights in his room were out and he smelled smoke and burning plastic. He was told they would send up a maintenance worker.

He said no maintenance worker came, and he and his son started packing before they realized they needed to evacuate.

"The fire alarm didn't go off, the smoke alarm didn't go off, nothing went off," he said.

He said he and his son started knocking on doors. Later they saw hotel employees also knocking on doors.

"They didn't really take it seriously until it was in flames," said Jenkins' 14-year-old son, Logan.

Kirit Amin, the owner and manager of M-Star Hotel, said there were no problems with the hotel's electrical system or fire alarms. He said the hotel cleared a city inspection of the alarms last week.

"Every single alarm is working," Amin said.

Rob Delk, M Star's maintenance supervisor, echoed Amin. Delk said he checked the fire alarms on Tuesday and they were all working. He said he couldn't recall hearing the alarms this morning, but he knows they worked.

"My main thing right now is to make sure my guests are good." Delk said.

Amin and Williamson said the Red Cross would help find the guests a cool place to stay and other accommodations. When asked about the guests' personal property losses, Amin said he wasn't sure what his insurance covered and he needed to talk to his agent.

Guests April Shaw and Eric Clayborn said they were in their room getting ready for work when someone banged on the door and warned them to get out of the building. They said they grabbed what they could -- a wallet, purse, laptop and a few clothes -- and scrambled to get out.

The two said they had been staying at the hotel for several months and have had to change rooms several times because of electrical problems. They said in one room they stayed in, none of the outlets worked.

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