Vacant hotel erupts into flames near Interstate 35, UT campus | Latest Travel News
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A vacant hotel and restaurant caught fire near Interstate 35 and the University of Texas at Austin campus Sunday night, sending enormous plumes of black smoke into the air that may very well be seen from miles away.
The metropolis of Austin’s public security energetic incidents web site confirmed firefighters responded to the 2700 block of Cole Street, a block away from the I-35 frontage highway near a restaurant and the hotel. A photograph despatched to KXAN reveals flames popping out of a number of home windows of the hotel.
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A vacant hotel near Interstate 35 and the University of Texas at Austin campus erupted in flames Sunday, sending plumes of smoke into the air that may very well be seen for miles. (Photo courtesy of Dustin Haisler)
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Austin Fire Department responding to fire in the 2900 block of north Interstate 35 service highway on Sunday (Courtesy Austin Fire Department)
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Austin Fire Department responding to fire in the 2900 block of north Interstate 35 service highway on Sunday (Courtesy Austin Fire Department)
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Large fire at a vacant hotel near UT campus erupts in flames (Courtesy Nic)
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Fire near I-35 north of UT campus on Sunday night (Frank Martinez/KXAN)
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Fire near I-35 north of UT campus on Sunday night (Frank Martinez/KXAN)
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Fire near I-35 north of UT campus on Sunday night (Frank Martinez/KXAN)
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Fire near the 2900 block of north I-35 Service Road on Sunday night
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Fire near the 2900 block of north I-35 Service Road on Sunday night
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Fire near the 2900 block of north I-35 Service Road on Sunday night
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Black smoke billowing above Austin on Sunday night (Courtesy Rep. Michael McCaul)
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Plume of smoke near UT campus Sunday night (KXAN Photo/ Frank Martinez)
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Large fire at a vacant hotel near UT campus erupts in flames (Courtesy Nic )
The Austin Fire Department said the trigger of the fire has yet to be decided, but arson investigators are working the scene. More than 60 firefighters responded to the blaze.
Lisa Herrera noticed “huge billows of black smoke” from the fire while driving on her means from south Austin and “had to see what happened.”
“It was super, super black smoke,” she said. “Occasionally, you could see a light puff of gray, but it was complete darkness that covered everything. It was crazy. Thank God for firefighters; they’re doing a great job.”
She said she acquired a notification from the KXAN News smartphone app with particulars about the fire.
AFD said that electrical energy was shut off in the realm due to the peak of the flames and that one firefighter was handled for a heat-related injury. Austin-Travis County EMS wrote on social media that it had a number of items on the scene to help the firefighters, but had not handled any sufferers.
Heavy smoke shut down the southbound lanes of Interstate 35, according to a discover despatched to metropolis leaders. AFD said the frontage highway will likely be closed for “a while.”
Both buildings that burned had been empty for some time. The hotel, previously a Rodeway Inn, had been lined in graffiti. Aster’s Ethiopian Restaurant shut down this summer time, according to a post on the restaurant’s social media web page.
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