Smiths Station firefighters and other officials responded to a fully-involved fire at a local motel.
Smiths Station firefighters, alongside personnel and officials with East Alabama Medical Center Emergency Medical Services, Lee County Emergency Management Agency, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, and Salem Volunteer Fire Department, responded to a report of possibly multiple structures on fire on Lee Road 430 around 6:25 P.M. CST on Saturday, December 6, 2025.
As officials arrived, they discovered the old Budget Motel, located at 4860 Lee Road 430, was on fire.
Crews initiated an aggressive fire attack and performed a primary search of the involved building, according to Blake Green, Chief of the Smiths Station Fire Protection District. “The search turned up negative for any victims and crews were able to contain the fire to one building.”
There were no injuries to any first responders.
HISTORY AND RECENT CONVERSATION
This is not the first occasion a fire has occurred at this motel. In April of 2018, a mattress was set ablaze by vandals causing three rooms at the front of the motel to be damaged.
The motel had been abandoned for a long period of time, and has zero power or water.
The motel recently came back into public conversation when city officials, including current mayor Richard Cooley, began phase one of the Brownsfield Assessment, a process of evaluating properties that may be contaminated to figure out how serious the problem is, what cleanup is needed, and how redevelopment can proceed, in mid-June of this year.
Phase one of the process and assessment involves a preliminary investigation involving historical records review, site visits, and interviews to identify potential contamination sources and recognized environmental conditions.
CAUSE OF FIRE
The cause of the fire is undetermined. The investigation remains ongoing.