Laredo hotel deemed unsafe after fire; four streets remain closed

A three-alarm fire at Laredo’s DoubleTree hotel on Oct. 7 prompted Mayor Victor Treviño to declare a local state of disaster after officials deemed the 14-story hotel structurally unsafe. Eight people sought medical care, including four taken to Laredo Medical Center for smoke inhalation.

The Laredo Fire Department received the initial call at about 12:52 a.m. CDT. Four other people sought medical attention on their own, according to reporting on the incident.

Guest accounting and street closures

At a Wednesday morning briefing, officials said the hotel reported 203 checked-in guests and responders had accounted for 115 at that time. Officials were still reconciling the guest list. Those figures describe the accounting at the briefing; they do not establish that other guests were missing or provide a final count of people evacuated.

As of Thursday, Oct. 8, four streets bordering the hotel remained closed: Constantinople Street to the north, Santa Ursula Avenue to the east, Garden Street to the south and San Bernardo Avenue to the west. KGNS described the street-closure perimeter as one block. Police said the closures could continue into the weekend.

Separately, Treviño’s declaration asks the public to avoid a two-block area near Garden Street and San Bernardo Avenue. That request is not the same boundary as the one-block street-closure perimeter reported Thursday. Guests were told not to return to the hotel until officials authorized access.

Declaration activates city emergency plan

The declaration took effect at 10 a.m. CDT on Oct. 7 and was set to remain in effect until 10 a.m. CDT on Oct. 14, unless continued or renewed. It activates Laredo’s emergency management plan and cites damage to the hotel, structural concerns and possible collapse.

Officials were working with the property owner to arrange an expert assessment and determine when emergency personnel could safely reenter the building. The fire investigation remained ongoing, and officials had not established a cause. No safe reentry or reopening date was announced.