Austin motel room heavily damaged by fire Wednesday afternoon

A room at a motel in Austin was heavily damaged in a fire Wednesday afternoon.

The Austin Fire Department responded to a call concerning smoke in a room at the Sterling Motel at approximately 2:38 p.m Wednesday afternoon.  Fire Chief Jim McCoy stated in a news release that upon arrival, crews noticed smoke coming from the roof above room 109.  Chief McCoy went on to state that the first arriving crew extinguished the blaze, and firefighters overhauled the room along with ventilating adjacent rooms that were filled with smoke.  

McCoy stated that the State Fire Marshall was called to investigate, and he indicated that the cause of the fire appeared to be smoking.  Chief McCoy noted that $20,000 in damage was done to the structure, and $8,000 to the contents of the room.

There were no injuries reported.