Four-Alarm Fire Rips Through Sturbridge Hotel
STURBRIDGE (CBS) -- A four-alarm fire burned through the Publick House Motor Lodge in Sturbridge Sunday morning.
The fire began around 4 a.m. when someone reported flames in a room at the lodges, off Haines Street in Sturbridge. Everyone staying in the inn at the time was safely evacuated.
Three cars were also burned.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire by 8a.m.
Several wedding were taking place on the property over the weekend. Dina Ditmar was among at least 20 wedding guests staying at the hotel.
"We were yelling for the fireman to come and get me and they put a ladder against my balcony and I had to climb down," Ditmar told WBZ-TV.
"My rearview mirror is melted and my headlights are burnt, thank God my car started," she said.
After hearing that bridesmaids for a separate wedding scheduled for Sunday lost their dresses in the fire, Jamie Suchecki and other bridesmaids gave their own dresses away.
"We were fortunate that nothing went wrong for ours and it was just going to be put in a closet for a while so," Suchecki said.
Coincidentally, both brides chose navy blue.
"So it was good that we were able to help them," Suchecki said.
The hotel that caught fire is not the same as the historic Publick House on the same property.
Sturbridge Fire Dept. Chief David Zinther says the fire may have been caused by a cigarette, but officials are still investigating.
