Residential motel burns in Cary

CARY -- Fire officials are investigating the cause of a blaze that gutted a portion of a residential motel near downtown Cary.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, firefighters arrived at the Harrison Motel at 607 E. Chatham St., where one of the motel's three buildings was afire, Cary spokeswomanSusan Moran said.

The single-story building contained six units, which are rented long term.

No one was injured, but at least three people lived in the one-story wood building. Mel Woods, 58, who works as a superintendent of the property, was one of them. He has lived there for six years.

Woods said he was talking with neighbors in the parking lot when he saw flames coming from the building.

"The smoke was thick ..., and I couldn't get in," he said.

Woods, who lives alone, didn't know the extent of damages late Friday. But he thinks he lost most of his belongings, including a coveted recording of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

"It's the little things like that that I'm gonna miss the most," he said as he glanced back at his charred apartment.

The American Red Cross was providing services for those who were displaced.

The fire was not the first at that location.

In July 1998, a blaze caused $100,000 worth of damage to the Harrison Motel. Authorities said then that the fire was accidentally started by a candle or cigarette in a wicker basket in the bathroom of one of the rooms.

No injuries were reported in that fire.