Motel's records room goes up in flames on south side

Twelve units and 27 firefighters spent part of their New Year’s Day putting out a fire at a Tucson-area motel Monday afternoon. 

Crews were alerted to the fire when an employee of the motel in the 1000 block of East Benson Highway pulled an alarm after seeing smoke coming from one of the rooms used to store motel records, according to a news release from Tucson Fire. 

Upon arrival, firefighters forced entry into the room and saw that the contents were ablaze. 

Crews fought the fire by turning off utilities and cutting a hole in the roof to help increase visibility and decrease the heat, the release said. 

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The fire was under control 16 minutes after the units arrived on the scene. 

No other rooms at the motel were affected by the fire and all occupants were able to return.

Tucson Fire investigators believe the fire to be suspicious, but an investigation is ongoing.