The Wooster Township Fire Department is investigating the cause of a motel fire that claimed three lives early Wednesday morning.
According to Wooster Township Fire Chief Dallas Terrell, firefighters were called to the Econo Lodge on East Lincoln Way around 1:30 a.m.
When crews arrived, they found smoke and flames pouring from the motel.
"We saw multiple units on fire, fire through the roof, made multiple rescue attempts, and unfortunately, those were unsuccessful, and there are confirmed three deceased occupants from the motel,” said Terrell.
Terrell also said one firefighter suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze.
News 5 spoke with April Graser, a hotel employee who was working when the fire broke out. She said it started as a normal overnight shift until the alarms suddenly went off.
"The guy that stayed in 121 came running to the door and told me to call 911 that there was a fire,” said Graser.
Moments later, she looked up at the hotel's security cameras and saw flames consuming the southwest corner of the building. Then the front desk phone rang. Graser said the call was from one of the victims who was trapped inside.
"He told me, 'Please, please, April, please.' I said, I called 911,” Graser continued. “He was begging me to get help because they were trapped in the building, they couldn't get out of their apartment, and I heard her crying, I heard them all screaming and crying.”
Authorities have not yet released the identities of the three victims.
"They're going to be missed really deeply, all of them, and I want to tell the family that they were loved and that we were just a big family. We got along, everybody, all of us loved each other,” said Graser.
The motel remains closed, leaving dozens of guests displaced. Some have been relocated to other hotels, while others are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
"We pay respects to the families and friends of the victims, and we're going to do everything we can to try and figure out what caused it,” said Terrell.
