Today in fire history: motel fire kills one and injures 20 other guests

On Wednesday, November 23, 1983, a fire occurred at the Travel Master Inn Motel located at 225 W. First Street in Dayton, Ohio. The motel was a rectangular, four-story building, with basement, of mixed construction. The ground floor contained a registration and lounge area, and the upper floors contained 66 guest rooms. Earlier in the evening, on November 23, the building's fire detection and alarm system sounded throughout the building. The hotel's desk clerk deactivated the system and went to the guest room portion of the building to determine the source of the alarm. The clerk discovered a trash can...