Fire cause eyed
Blaze damages El Dorado Motel in Grants

Investigators from the New Mexico Fire Marshal's Office discuss their findings Tuesday morning at the El Dorado Motel in Grants after a fire swept through a portion of the building the night before. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — A fire broke out at the El Dorado Motel at 1150 Santa Fe Ave. late Monday night. There were no injuries, fire officials said.

"It broke out approximately in the 11 p.m. hour, somewhere between 11:30 and midnight. There was quite a bit of smoke damage to quite a few rooms. We don't have an exact count yet, but two definitely," Grants Fire Chief Elliot Knighton said.

The fire broke out in a room on the ground floor of the two- story motel. Knighton said there were residents in the motel but none in the room where the fire originated. There were no injuries to any of the motel's occupants, and the total fire damage is still being assessed, he said.

"At this point we don't have the cause of the fire, but I do have a state fire marshal on the scene who is investigating that right now," Knighton said Tuesday.

The final report on the cause and amount of damage done to the structure should be available within a week or so, he said.