RUMFORD — It was eerily quiet Saturday morning around what remained of the Linnell Motel, which was mostly destroyed by fire the previous afternoon.

No one was around the facility as curious passers-by drove around both driveways of the Prospect Avenue motel, built in 1954.

Back at the Rumford Fire Station, a tired Lt. Rob Dixon said firefighters were on fire watch Friday night and a truck had to return at one point to put out a hot spot.

Dixon said the fire marshal would not be returning to look at the facility Saturday, that he was “satisfied” with the findings on Friday. As for the official cause, Dixon was not willing to elaborate but said it would be in the fire marshal’s final report.

Dan Young, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, said late Friday afternoon that the fire likely started on the outside of the building, based on statements from the owner’s son, Tom Kumar, and maids who were working at the hotel.

“We established that the fire started around the area of Room 165, and that gentleman who was living there has left,” Young said Friday . “We can’t find him. He’s not in the rubble. He left.”

He said that according to the investigation, the man was grilling outside the building and the vinyl siding caught fire and flames spread to the roof.

“But that hasn’t been confirmed, because we can’t find him,” Young said. “But right now, that is what we’re looking at (for the cause).”

Dixon said they still have fire hose to retrieve, but the building has been turned back over to the owners. The motel is owned by Ravi & Meena LLC. According to Secretary of State corporation records, the registered agent for the LLC is Tom Kumar, who is employed as a manager at the motel.

The fire, which started near the second-floor roof in the back of the main building, was reported just before 2 p.m. Friday.

According to an employee at a nearby store, the motel was fully engulfed in fire by 2:15 p.m. Friday. About 100 firefighters and emergency rescue workers from 10 departments battled the blaze.

Firefighters were still hard at work at 6 p.m. fighting a stubborn fire in the basement.

An excavator was called in to provide firefighters with access to drown the flames with water from the department’s aerial truck.

“The initial report was that there was heavy fire from the roof and the building is in the shape of a T, and the fire was near the end of the T — that back section — on the second floor,” Rumford Fire Chief Bob Chase said.

The front section was “pretty much unaffected,” Chase said of the rooms and office fronting Prospect Avenue, “so we’ve let people go in and get their belongings so they can find other accommodations.”

He said the front lobby is where the two-story T heads toward the woods, which also caught fire.

Chase said it took 90 minutes to achieve knockdown. He estimated the damage at well over $100,000.

He said all 15 people living at the 54-room motel were accounted for, and that some were treated for smoke inhalation.

To help two families displaced by the fire, Pastor Dan Pearson of Rumford Baptist Church, said people can call him at 507-1066 or send clothing and food to: c/o Dan Pearson, Rumford Baptist Church, 431 Raymond St., Rumford, ME 04276.

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