Dec. 2, 2008 — Firefighters from the Susanville Fire Department responded to a commercial structure fire at about 7:50 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 24. The fire occurred at the Budget Host Motel located at 2685 Main St.

First responding firefighters were met with heavy smoke, coming from a single room in the motel. Fire crews acted quickly to contain the blaze, which was also kept to the hotel room where the fire started. That room suffered the majority of the damage. Minor heat and smoke damage was caused to some of the adjoining rooms.

Fire Chief Stu Ratner said the owners of the motel were doing some remodeling when the fire started. He said someone had leaned a mattress up against a wall heater during the remodeling, which eventually started the fire.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury at the scene.

SFD firefighters also received assistance at the fire from two engines from the Susan River Fire Protection District and one engine from the California Department of Forestry and Fire’s Lassen/Modoc Unit.

A total of 11 fire apparatus and 27 fire personnel were at the scene.

“It was good that we were able to get to the scene quickly,” Ratner said. “If the fire had spread to the attic, it might have been a different story.”

Ratner said that so far, there haven’t been many house fire incidents involving heaters, mainly because it’s still slightly warm outside. He said he expected heater-involved incidents to increase as the weather gets colder and more people start to use their heaters.