Three children, two adults injured in Raleigh motel fire

Improperly discarded smoking material on a mattress inside a second floor room caused the fire, which was reported just after 3:30 p.m., according to a Raleigh fire report. The room was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, Raleigh Assistant Fire Chief Kendall Holcutt said.

"As soon as I opened the door, boom, the glass popped from the room next door to me," said Edna Love, a motel patron. "Smoke was coming in on my dog, myself and my husband. And I hurried up and got some clothes on real quick and got the heck out."

Some inside the motel barely made it out with the clothes on their backs. About 55 people were displaced.

"Some of my kids don't have shoes on. No coat. It's cold out here," said April Ngom, who was staying at the motel with her four children. "Somebody just banged on the door and said the hotel was on fire and we all just ran out."

Three rooms sustained damage. Five people were rescued from the third floor. The building did not have a sprinkler system, Holcutt said.

"The building does have a firewall. If we can secure the utilities and make sure everything is safe, we may be able to relocate a few people back into the building tonight," he said.

The five people injured were hospitalized for minor smoke inhalation, said Brent Myers, medical director for Wake County EMS.

About 10 percent of the building was damaged, the report said. Officials ruled the fire accidental. 

"This is very frustrating and upsetting, especially when you've been staying here this long and you don't know what's going to happen," said Meghan Berry, a motel patron.