April 24--A fast-moving fire heavily damaged part of a Muhlenberg Township motel complex Wednesday morning, but spared the rooms where dozens of people were staying.
The three-alarm blaze started shortly before 11 a.m. at Klein's Motel in the 4800 block of North Fifth Street Highway.
The fire struck a building containing the office, owner's living quarters and a large storage area.
That building is separate from Klein's 35 motel rooms. About 30 of them were occupied, said Shailesh Kapadia, who has owned the business for six years.
The Kapadias' living quarters is not habitable.
Most of his customers are long-term occupants, Kapadia said.
The American Red Cross Berks Chapter said it was providing shelter for occupants of the motel at the YMCA of Reading, 631 Washington St. The Red Cross expected 25 to 30 people to stay at the shelter Wednesday night.
The only injury was to a firefighter who hurt her knee but declined treatment.
The fire apparently started in the storage area in back of the building, then moved forward to the living quarters and office, police said.
Kapadia said he was in the bathroom when he heard his wife, Jayshree Kapadia, screaming: "Fire! Fire!"
She'd been in the office praying that business would be good, as she does every morning, when she noticed there was a fire in the rear of the building, Shailesh Kapadia said.
He grabbed a fire extinguisher, pulled the pin and began to spray the flames, he said, but they were too intense and forced him to leave the building.
"I had no time to stop it," he said.
The couple called 9-1-1 and hurried from room to room, banging on doors and warning occupants, he said.
The couple's son and two daughters were in school at the time.
Strong winds pushed the flames through the building quickly and made them harder to extinguish, said Sgt. Joel Marino of the Muhlenberg Township police.
The flames reached a metal shop business about 10 feet away, and firefighters went inside the business to order the workers out, Marino said.
The wind also spread heavy smoke throughout the neighborhood, forcing the closure of several downwind businesses.
Fifth Street Highway was closed in the area until 9:15 p.m. as hoses and emergency vehicles blocked the road.
Marie Bond, who had been staying in one of the motel rooms since October, said she knew something was wrong when her television went off, followed by her lights and phone.
She heard people talking outside her room, came out and saw the flames and smoke about 40 yards away.
"I was just amazed," she said of the intensity of the blaze.
The hotel is also home to Chuck Quade, one of three workers who had been stripping and remodeling rooms at Klein's.
He was living in a room with his wife, Mary, and said they noticed the fire through a window in the storage area.
The fire was far too advanced to stop by that time, he said.
"There was nothing we could do," Quade said.
Among the items in the storage area were propane tanks, air tanks, paint and chemicals. Mary said she heard several explosions.
Contact Mike Urban: 610-371-5023 or [email protected].
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