Fire officials received a call last week about a natural gas leak at the Arrow Head Motel located at 1411 East Business Loop 70.

Upon arriving at the scene, officials spoke with the owner of the motel, Mohammad Eldeib, and a maintenance worker, Jeff Bryson. Bryson told the firefighters that while working on a gas water heater in room 44, a valve and section of pipe failed. Bryson said he then smelled natural gas and left the room to call 911.

Upon entering room 44, firefighters found it engulfed in flames. Firefighters had to pull much of the ceilings in about six units in order to finally extinguish the fire.

A moderate wind caused firefighters to fear the fire could spread to nearby businesses. In order to prevent the spread, firefighters positioned a ladder truck on Business Loop 70 so they could flow large amounts of water between the fire at the motel and other businesses. The positioning of the ladder truck is what caused Business Loop 70 between College Avenue and Old Highway 63 to be closed to traffic for several hours.

There were no injuries to either civilians or fire officials, and Eldeib said that the rooms damaged by the fire were not occupied. Damage to contents and structure is estimated at $75,000.