Kaity Brown
The Ritz Motel in Radium, which has been close for a few years, burned down on Sunday June 9.
There were no injuries and fire fighters were able to contain the fire, protecting a nearby hotel which sustained some water damage.
"Our main concern was trying to protect an adjacent motel," said Dave Dixon, Fire Chief of the Radium Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department.
"The building has basically been torn down except for one small attached unit that was not involved. We did have an excavator on site as well and he started to tear it down so we could get at some of the hot spots. We couldn't go into the building at all."
Currently the cause of the fire is unknown and investigation is underway.
"It is still not finalized yet. At this point in time there is no known cause but it is definitely a suspicious fire," said Dixon. "We don't know what happened."
Dixon explains that the care taker of the building was not present at the time of the fire and so he also is unaware of the cause.
"We got called about ten to 5 yesterday afternoon," Dixon said. "As we got set up, we called in for additional resources to help us because is was very windy and smoky."
"We are very appreciative of all the help we received from the different fire departments, the ambulances and the police and hydro. A few of the local businesses also supplied us with some food and refreshments while we were there."