One killed, 20 injured in Cobb hotel fire

One person was killed and 20 others injured early Sunday morning in what fire officials are calling one of the worst fires in the city of Marietta's history.

"This was very, very serious," said city fire Chief Jackie Gibbs, who has been with the department for 28 years. "We've had hotel fires, but we've never had one this large. It was probably the largest hotel fire Marietta's ever experienced."

The three-alarm fire at the Holiday Inn on Delk and Franklin roads apparently originated in a second floor hotel room about 3 a.m. and quickly consumed three more floors of the seven-story building before firefighters -- more than one hundred of them -- brought it under control an hour later.

Firefighters, using ladder trucks, broke through windows and rescued at least 20 people from their burning rooms.

Rescue workers also made their way through smoke-filled hallways to reach hotel guests who had barricaded themselves in their rooms for safety.

All but one of the 168 guests checked into the hotel made it out alive, Gibbs said. The body of one man was later found in a third floor corridor. Officials did not release his name Sunday night.

Rescue workers took 18 hotel guests to area hospitals, where they were treated for smoke inhalation and fire injuries. Two firefighters with the Cobb County fire department, which was assisting in the rescue, sustained non-life threatening injuries.

The hotel, built more than 30 years ago, did not have a sprinkler system. Building codes at the time did not require the devices, Gibbs said.

The hotel's smoke and fire alarm system were working at the time of the blaze, Gibbs said. Several guests, however, told reporters at the scene that the alarms were faint and barely audible inside hotel rooms.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Gibbs said the fatality was the first fire death in five years in the city.

Holiday Inn officials could not be reached for comment Sunday night.