3 Dead, 15 Missing in Florida Blaze at Residential Hotel
Fire swept through a residential hotel this morning, killing at least three people, injuring 18 and sending scores of mostly elderly residents running into the street, officials said.
Fifteen people remain unaccounted for in the 3 a.m. fire at the Fontana Hotel that was brought under control in about five hours, said Assistant Fire Chief John Reed. The hotel is on famed Collins Avenue north of the beach’s trendy Art Deco district.
Mayor Alex Daoud said the intensity of the three-alarm fire led investigators to suspect arson, but fire officials said the report is speculative.
Up to 200 residents of the three-story Fontana Hotel and 175 to 200 in the adjacent Prince Michael Hotel, which was threatened for a time, were evacuated, police said.
By early afternoon, authorities were conducting a room-to-room search of the burned building and checking crowds outside the hotel, hospitals and a community center to narrow the list of missing tenants.
Residents said the fire broke out near the elevator shaft in the front of the Fontana. Two of the bodies were found in the lobby area.
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