Sipesville Volunteer Fire Company

At 04:41 hours on Monday, December 18, Stations 601, 602, 603, 607, 623, and 900 EMS were dispatched for a working structure fire with possible entrapment at the hotel across from AutoZone on North Center Ave. 601 Command arrived on scene and reported a working basement fire. Engine 607-4 responded in emergency mode and setup operations on the Charlie side of the structure per orders of command. 607 Firefighters were part of an initial attack team, which located and extricated one deceased victim from an apartment in the structure. Station 607 was later reactivated for tankers. Station 606 was called for a tanker, and station 628 was also activated for an engine and manpower. North Center Ave. was shut down during operations and wasn't reopened until mid-morning. All fire units cleared the scene in approximately three hours. The PSP State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the blaze.