Unfinished hotel building destroyed by fire in Savannah

UPDATE (12/19/2024): Officials offer $5,000 reward for information on hotel fire in Savannah

SAVANNAH, Tenn. — Early Wednesday morning, we received some calls from WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News tipsters regarding a fire in Savannah just off of the river next to the bridge.

We arrived on scene just before 7:30 a.m. and talked to EMA Director Larae Smiley-Sliger a little bit about what happened, and the timeline from when they got called to when they got to the scene.

“This morning at about 4:48 a.m., City of Savannah Fire and Hardin County Fire got paged out to a structure fire which ended up being a commercial structure fire here at the hotel that’s under construction at 125 Million Dollar way here in Savannah,” said Smiley-Sliger.

With a fire this big, it takes a lot of planning in order to defend it in the best way possible. There were some embers that were headed toward a house nearby the fire. In fact, it got the trampoline. However, fire crews were able to stop it before it got to the house itself.

“Just actively fighting the fire. It was a totally defensive-working fire because it was already fully involved on the first and second floor, it appeared to be when we got here. So it was purely a defensive fire attack,” said Smiley-Sliger.

Authorities say this is an ongoing investigation and they are searching for the cause of the fire.

“Still under investigation. Still an active scene. We’re still trying to extinguish flames. The City of Savannah is still on scene trying to extinguish. We’ve got everything blocked off where no one can get on scene until further investigation and we can maybe find out what happened,” said Smiley-Sliger.

There is still quite a bit of information unknown, but the Savannah Fire Department did share a press release with us giving the current status of the investigation. It reads as follows:

On 12/11/2024 at approximately 04:48 a.m., Savannah Fire Department personnel were dispatched to 125 Million Dollar Way in Savannah for a reported structure fire involving the Sleep Inn currently under construction. SFD Engine 1 was on the scene within 5 minutes of dispatch notification. Upon their arrival, heavy flames and smoke were observed from the exterior of the building. SFD personnel began to battle the fire, but quickly determined that due to the amount of flame and heat, an offensive attack was not practical or safe for personnel on the ground. SFD Command made the call to begin defensive attack procedures to save surrounding equipment, environmental, and personal property, including an occupied home. Within minutes, SFD personnel were assisted by personnel of the Hardin County Fire Department, including but not limited to, HCFD full-time Station 12 personnel as well as personnel from volunteer districts 2 and 6. Due to the incomplete construction of the building, coupled with environmental factors including west winds feeding through the open floors, the structure was quickly fully involved and a total loss. The neighboring home sustained minor damage to personal property. 

At this time, the cause and origin of the fire has yet to be determined. However, due to the monetary value of the structure, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Fire Division was requested to assist with the investigation per protocol. At this time, it is not believed, nor should it be assumed, that the cause of the fire is nefarious in nature. We want to caution the public in making assumptions and remind everyone to let the investigation lead us to the cause of the fire. 

SFD Chief Steve Hughes stated, “I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and kind words for all of the emergency responders who assisted in this call. While tragic, we are glad that no one was injured battling this intense blaze. I want to especially thank the Hardin County Fire Department for their assistance.” 

The Mayor for the city of Savannah, Bob Strutt, also provided a comment on Facebook earlier Wednesday, saying this:

As most all of you have heard, fire destroyed the new hotel construction site earlier this morning. It is a devastating moment for those of us who want so much to make Savannah and Hardin County a better place to live, work, and raise your families. I admire Tim Hunt for stepping up and stepping out to add something much needed to our community. Yes this is a setback, but we will survive, and we will work even harder to bring tourists dollars to our community. I want to thank our God that all the firemen and emergency personnel were not harmed while trying to extinguish the fire. Please take a moment today and say a prayer for Tim and his family and for the many people associated with the hotel construction. We will be back stronger and better.

We first learned of this story thanks to our WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Tipsters tipsters. If you have information and want to become a tipster, you can email us at news@wbbjtv.com or you can call us at 731-424-4515.

For more Hardin County news, click here.