A South Tucson apartment building rented to formerly homeless people and low-income military veterans went up in flames Monday night, two weeks after it was purchased by new owners as part of a multimillion-dollar transaction.
The structure was insured and the owners are pledging to rebuild and help find temporary homes for displaced residents.
About 30 studio units at Spanish Trail Suites, 305 E. Benson Highway, were destroyed in the three-alarm fire that began Monday at about 7 p.m., said Commander Kevin Shonk of the South Tucson Police Department.
A Chinook helicopter drops water on a ridge above Pima Canyon in Coronado National Forest during the Bighorn Fire on June 10, 2020. Video by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
More than 60 firefighters, many from the Northwest and Tucson fire departments, spent nearly three hours bringing the blaze under control, officials said.
The fire began in the old Spanish Trail Motel building, a dilapidated structure on the same property. The site is popular with vagrants who have set several smaller fires there over the past six months, Shonk said.
Flames spread from the old motel to the 30-unit apartment building, but an additional 90 apartments on the property were untouched, said owner Margeaux Bowers, who purchased the entire complex for $3.7 million on May 29, public records show.
The low-income units rent for $550 a month, including utilities, for a 324-square-foot studio apartment.
“It’s devastating,” Bowers said of the fire. “But I’m so happy everyone got out OK.”
Bowers and her husband, Brian Bowers, both Tucson natives, own several other apartment buildings around Tucson and are trying to find temporary space there for displaced tenants, Margeaux Bowers said.
In addition to rebuilding the destroyed apartments, the new owners plan to demolish the old motel where the fire began, she said.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard today, “ quipped Michael Colaianni, a spokesman for the Tucson Fire Department, which often assists the much smaller South Tucson Fire Department.
The resources of both departments have been taxed by the frequency of fire calls to the old motel, Colaianni said.
Shonk said the cause of the blaze has been listed as undetermined. Since so many fires were set in the old motel in the past, investigators weren’t able to narrow down precisely how the latest one began, he said.
The total dollar value of fire damage has yet to be determined.
Bowers said although 30 units burned, dozens more tenants were temporarily displaced because electricity to the entire complex was shut off when the fire began.
Most of those tenants should be able to return quickly once power is restored, she said.
The Red Cross has been helping those displaced by providing hotel rooms and financial help.
Photos: South Tucson Residents Displaced after Spanish Trail Motel Fire
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Cornelius Eursey watches the action as firefighters from the Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments battle a three-alarm fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020. Eursey is a resident of Spanish Trail Suites and was evacuated with all the other residents.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Residents of the Spanish Trail Suites were evacuated from their apartments after the Spanish Trail Motel caught fire in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Two Sun Tran busses were brought to the scene of a three-alarm fire near the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020 for residents from Spanish Trail Suites to sit in some air-conditioning waiting to be allowed back into their homes.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Thomas Chase, far right, says a police officer banged on his door to evacuate him and other residents from the Spanish Trail Suites due to a three-alarm fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020. Chase sits inside of the Sun Tran busses brought in to give residents a place to cool off as they wait to return to their homes.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Ken Shugart, left, and Joseph Acey were evacuated from their apartments at the Spanish Trail Suites when the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway caught on fire on June 15, 2020. Some residents waited to see if they would be let back into their homes.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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A couple watches as firefighters from the Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments battle a three-alarm fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on on June 15, 2020. Residents from the nearby Spanish Trail Suites had to be evacuated.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Joseph Acey sits with his dog, Coffee, and waits as firefighters from Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments battle a three-alarm fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Officers from the South Tucson Police Department stand along S. 4th Ave. as firefighters from Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments respond to a three-alarm fire behind the Spanish Trail Suites in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Residents of the Spanish Trail Suites were evacuated from their apartments after the Spanish Trail Motel caught fire in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020. Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments responded to the three-alarm fire. Residents waited outside in the heat to be notified if they could return to their apartment.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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A firefighter from the Tucson Fire Department stands in the bucket and looks down on the fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 15, 2020.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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A section of apartments at the Spanish Trail Suites were damaged due to a fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on Monday evening. Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments responded to the three-alarm fire which left 73 residents displaced. June 16, 2020.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Tommy McDonald salvages whatever he can from the apartment he shared with his wife on June 16, 2020 at the Spanish Trail Suites at 305 E. Benson Highway. A fire broke out at the neighboring Spanish Trail Motel Monday evening and jumped to the apartment complex. McDonald says he had just moved in 10 days prior and lost his dog, Nala, in the blaze.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Tommy McDonald salvages whatever he can from the apartment he shared with his wife on June 16, 2020 at the Spanish Trail Suites at 305 E. Benson Highway. A fire broke out at the neighboring Spanish Trail Motel Monday evening and jumped to the apartment complex. McDonald says he had just moved in 10 days prior and lost his dog, Nala, in the blaze.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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A section of apartments at the Spanish Trail Suites were damaged due to a fire at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on Monday evening. Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments responded to the three-alarm fire. June 16, 2020.
Spanish Trail Motel Fire
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Fire damage at the Spanish Trail Motel in the 300 block of E. Benson Highway on June 16, 2020. Tucson, South Tucson and Northwest fire departments responded to a three-alarm fire at the motel, which jumped to the Spanish Trail Suites and displaced over 70 residents.
