HOLLISTER
Fire investigators believe there are signs of people illegally
trespassing into the former San Benito Hotel before a fire Sunday
seriously damaged the historic structure, Chief Fred Cheshire told
the Free Lance.
HOLLISTER
Fire investigators believe there are signs of people illegally trespassing into the former San Benito Hotel before a fire Sunday seriously damaged the historic structure, Chief Fred Cheshire told the Free Lance.
The fire Sunday afternoon damaged the north end of the downtown building that previously housed the long-existing hotel on the second floor and a bar on the first.
It took firefighters about two hours to extinguish the blaze because the structure’s relatively older, sturdier materials were difficult to break through in battling the fire. Two firefighters, meanwhile, were injured in the incident.
Cheshire confirmed that the department found evidence of residents using the building before the fire and likely doing so without permission.
“There are signs there had been people in and out of there,” Cheshire said.
During that fire Sunday, crews prevented the blaze from spreading to the neighboring Masonic Lodge, another historic structure.
Look for an expanded story in The Weekend Pinnacle on Friday.
