A fire that began Friday evening has destroyed the former Flamingo Motel at 500 East Pacific in Salina.

According to the Salina Fire Department, the structure was fully involved when the first crews arrived.

The fire was the latest of several in and around the Flamingo structure, with arson being suspected. On July 3rd a fire damaged the Flamingo structure.

A fire on August 5th destroyed a building across the street. The building, which among other things used to be the location of Willie’s Bar-B-Q restaurant and also a liquor store, was currently being used for storage. A cement truck parked in front of it was also destroyed.

Two garage fires, the lasted on October 5th, have also ignited in the same.

No injuries were reported in the latest fire Friday night, and the cause is under investigation. The intense amount of fire present caused the department to go to multiple alarms. This four-alarm fire required call back off duty fire personnel and mutual aide response from Rural Fire District 5 and 2.

The structure did have active utilities to various sections of the complex,
Kansas Gas and Westar Energy were requested to respond to the scene
to isolate and secure them. Assistance from the American Red Cross was also received. The resident that lived on property, was able to safely evacuate herself from the apartment without injury. The resident did have several pets including a dog and three cats, the dog and one cat were retrieved it is
not know if the other two cats made it out.

Crews remained on scene throughout the night and into the morning;
with the vast amount of structural collapse, crews were there to
extinguish any hot spots and/or flare-ups. The structure was significantly
damaged and dollar loss estimates have not yet been determined.
Investigators from the Salina fire and police departments were on-scene
to determine the cause of the fire.

An individual was taken into custody in connection with the fire. He is identified as 24-year-old Dustin Gordon of Salina. More details regarding Gordon will be provided on Monday morning during the news briefing held at the Salina Police Department.