UPDATE: 2 questioned in Camdenton motel fire investigation

"I was asleep. I was asleep when someone came knocking on the door saying there was a fire," said Motel 5-81 resident, Michele Trammel.

The fire started right around 9:00 Wednesday morning.

"When I woke up and came out the door, I saw that the whole place was engulfed in flames at the corner here," Trammel said. "So, I ran back in got all my cats out and tried to get a hold of my boyfriend. He wasn't here because he was at work. I was crying, I was frantic, I was freaking out."

Luckily for Trammel, her apartment was not directly affected by the fire.

"Probably five units are going to be what I would consider completely damaged, or total losses, and a lot of smoke and water damage throughout the rest of the building," said Mid-County Fire Protection District Chief, Scott Frandsen. "It was quite a hot fire when we arrived."

A white car parked in front of the building was also destroyed by fire.

"Right now we believe this car fire was secondary to the structure fire, but I don't know that for sure until the investigation is complete," Frandsen said.

Firefighters from Osage Beach, Sunrise Beach, Lebanon, and the Southwest Camden County Fire Protection District all helped fight the fire, which was put out within an hour.

The State Fire Marshal's Office is working to find out why this fire started.

learned two people have been questioned in connection to the investigation. Frandsen says they are not ruling out any suspicious activity, and are looking at several angles.

While everyone got out of the motel safely, at least three pets died in the fire.

"It could have been a whole lot worse," Trammel said. "I'm just glad the fire department got here when they did and got this fire under control. I was afraid for everyone losing their valuables, their personal stuff that means a lot to them, and their animals, which I was most concerned about."

The Red Cross was on scene Wednesday afternoon working with the families affected by this fire. There is no official word on how many families have been displaced by the fire.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of a motel fire Wednesday morning in Camden County.

The Mid-County Fire Department responded around 9 a.m. to the 581 Motel on Lake Road 581 in Camdenton. The complex is part of the 581 Mobile Home and RV Park.

Chief Scott Frandsen believes the motel was full of tenants. He reports no injuries. The fire damaged a good portion of the building. A car in front of the motel also burned.