UPDATED: Mountain View Lodge damaged by fire; arson suspected

Firefighters concentrate on a smoldering area of Mountain View Lodge Saturday morning. The motel was damaged by fire, and the cause of the blaze is being investigated.

An abandoned Corbin motel was damaged by fire early Saturday morning, and authorities suspect the blaze is the work of an arsonist.

Corbin Fire Chief Barry McDonald said his department received the call of a fire at Mountain View Lodge, off Cumberland Falls Hwy. in south Corbin, at around 6:20 a.m. Saturday morning.

Mountain View Lodge has been closed for some time and is currently for sale. It was bought at a Master Commissioner sale in 2014 by Whitaker Bank.

Firefighters had to cut a padlock off of a gate that prevented vehicles from using the road that led to the motel. Police say its isolated location, on a hill away from other businesses in the area, make it a prime target for vandals and vagrants. Officials at the scene said it appeared people had been living at the old motel for some time as they found clothing and other belongings when they entered the building.

“We did find some evidence where people had been staying up there,” said Corbin Police Det. Bill Rose who is leading an investigation into the fire.

“I’m trying to track them down to talk to them to see when the last time was they were up there … if they seen anything or know anything.”

Rose said he isn’t sure how long the items found in the motel had been there, so he isn’t certain if anyone was actually there when the fire started.

“The time frame is what I don’t know right now,” he said. “The way the stuff was in some of the other rooms, it could have been from two years ago, or it could have been from a week ago. That’s why I need to get a hold of them and talk to them.”

When police and fire officials arrived to fight the fire, entryways to the motel were open indicating someone had likely forced their way inside. There was no electricity being supplied to the building. Rose said he initially surmised that perhaps someone staying at the motel accidentally set it on fire while trying to heat the area where they were living.

“It’s hard to tell for sure. Everything in the room where the fire started was just completely gone,” Rose said. “It all burned up. There wasn’t nothing in there.”

Firefighters from four area departments were called in to help battle the blaze that gutted portions of the interior of the building.

Part of Cumberland Falls Hwy. was closed to through traffic for a time Saturday morning. Firefighters tried to access a nearby hydrant to help extinguish the blaze, but could not because it was frozen and could not be opened.

Rose said fire destroyed the room where it started and spread to other rooms down a 100-yard hallway in the area. About 75 of that was destroyed directly by fire. The rest suffered heavy smoke damage.

Mountain View Lodge has been closed for some time. It was formerly Holiday Inn and was the first location the city’s Off-Track Betting facility.

If the fire was intentionally set, police could charge those responsible with arson, which is a felony crime.