GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - A small fire broke out in an upstairs apartment of the Hazel Hotel Saturday, June 10^th.

The historical building is home to senior apartments upstairs, with businesses located in the lower story of the brick structure.

Local CALFIRE Butte County/Gridley Fire Department Station 74 was notified of an alarm sounding in the building at 9:08 am that morning. Reports say that Ladder Truck 74, Engine 74, Truck 73 and supporting engines from Palermo responded to the fire.  

The resident in the apartment where the fire broke out was evacuated, but Cathy Mills who was on site and witnessed the activity said it appeared that fellow residents of the senior apartments left their homes as well as business owners until officials deemed it safe to return to the building.

Captain Dustin Mattos of Station 74 says the fire was contained quickly by a fire sprinkler system in the building that was activated by the flames and smoke. Fire crews were on scene for hours to ensure that the fire was completely extinguished while working to salvage and stop water damage occurring to the lower level of the structure.

Visions by Janessa’s Photography studio, owned by Janessa Taber, unfortunately bore the brunt of severe water damage caused by the upstairs fire and resulting sprinkler activation. Taber said that when she arrived, crews of firefighters were hauling out her belongings, including electronics, office equipment, props, furniture, and irreplaceable hand painted backdrops she had made. Memorabilia archiving her business’s growth was also destroyed. Taber says that extensive damage was caused to most of her studio’s inventory and to the building; Flooring will need to be torn out, the walls are water stained, and the space now has a very strong unpleasant smell.  

During cleanup efforts, Taber was forced to move her belongings out onto the street to dry while she cataloged the losses sustained to her studio. At one point, she told fire crews that she would call friends to help her as they continued to remove items from inside the water-soaked interior, but they responded with “you have an entire fire department here” and to let them help.  

Taber shared that the commitment the fire department displayed to help her “really touched me and I felt so humbled to have people in the community that really, honestly do care so much” assist her. The photographer continued, “I have the upmost respect for them (firefighters) and so much gratitude – I can never repay them for their help.  I feel like I owe them so much for the amount of work they did to save my belongings.”

While the cause of the incident is under investigation, it is suspected that a mattress was the origin site of the fire. Hotel management was contacted for comment but has not made a statement at this time.

CALFIRE says that working smoke alarms alerted residents to danger, and although some property damage did occur in this instance, the early warning saved property and lives. Station 74 would like to remind residents in the community to regularly check and maintain the batteries in their smoke alarms, and if homes are not equipped with fire and smoke detectors, to have them promptly installed.