VIDEO: Two people were sent to the hospital and nearly 60 others were displaced after a fire burned at the Desert Sands Motel on Central Avenue just west of San Mateo Tuesday morning.
The Albuquerque Fire Department says around 1:45 a.m., firefighters were dispatched to a possible structure fire at the motel, where some residents stay weeks or longer. Firefighters saw flames shooting from the motel when they arrived.
There were 22 fire units on scene fighting the fire. The motel has 63 units, and as of 3 a.m., two-thirds of the building was involved with fire.
AFD assistant chief Victor Padilla Jr. said that part of the building is likely a loss. AFD says approximately 57 people were displaced by this fire, and the Red Cross was called to assist with their relocation. Two people were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation, though their conditions were not given.
Some of the residents say they heard an explosion before the fire. One of them was Charles Cooper.
Cooper, his two young daughters and the girls' mother had to rush out of their unit to get to safety. They had with them a shopping cart mostly full of supplies for the girls.
"I heard an explosion. I came out, I looked out and I didn't see anything. I laid back down and then my daughter started choking from smoke. I looked up and opened the door, and the whole place was on fire. I don't know what caused it or anything, I was just glad to get my kids out of there," he said.