Fire damages motel; one man seriously injured

One man suffered second and third degree burns over 35 percent of his body in the blaze at the Ponderosa Motel on Lake Street.

The fire broke out about 7 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

The man, whose name was not available, was taken to Washoe Medical Center, then flown to the burn unit at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

About five people were treated at the scene.

Witnesses said most of the residents lived there on a weekly basis.

"I saw smoke pouring out and all of a sudden the flames just erupted," said Tim Ingram, who lives across the street. "People were going crazy trying to get their cars and animals out."

Fire officials said the blaze started on the second floor of the building. The cause was under investigation.

The fire was one of two on Thursday in the Reno-Sparks area.

Spontaneous combustion was being blamed for a fire earlier in the day that severely damaged two homes in Sparks.

Acting Sparks Fire Marshal Robert King said a man living at one of the homes on Prater Way used paper towels to clean up varnish and gasoline from a desk he was refinishing.

He left the paper towels in a coffee can near a propane tank.

King said humidity and higher temperatures caused the paper towels to ignite, touching off the propane tank, which exploded.

"It wasn't anybody's fault there," King said. "Spontaneous combustion is something that doesn't happen very often."

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