No injuries in Sunday morning fire at Brookside Motel

Piles of items in front of room

Furniture and personal belongings sit in front of a Brookside Motel room Sunday afternoon after a fire there earlier in the day. 

An occupant was able to escape safely after a fire broke out at a Richmond Highway motel in the Huntington area early Sunday morning.

Firefighters responded to the Brookside Motel a little after 1 a.m. Sunday, and saw smoke coming from one of the ground-level rooms, according to the Fairfax Fire & Rescue Twitter feed.

The fire was quickly put, and did not extend to other parts of the motel, according to the fire department. Fire damage around the room’s window could be seen on Sunday afternoon, and furniture and personal items from the room were strewn about the motel’s sidewalk and parking lot.

Investigators determined the blaze was accidental, and caused by a hot plate left on a mattress, a fire department spokeswoman said on Monday. Damage was estimated to be around $1,000, according to the spokeswoman.

The Brookside, built in 1953, is a single-story motel located at 6001 Richmond Highway. It’s one of few remaining old-school “motor hotels” built along Route 1 from the 1930s to late 1950s.