At 2:53 pm Saturday, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District firefighters responded to a report of a commercial structure fire at the Executive Inn Motel in the City of Antioch.
It was reported that one person was in a room full of smoke and could not exit. Upon arrival, Engine 81 crew reported heavy smoke from a room with one victim being assisted to the parking lot area by Antioch Police officers.
Firefighters reported the fire was knocked down by sprinklers and there was no extension to other rooms. The cause of the fire is not known or the extend of the damage as crews are still on scene.
No other information has been made available.
Back in August of 2022, the Antioch City Council voted 3-2 (Barbanica and Ogorchock dissenting) to move forward with bridge housing and wrap-around services at the homeless hotel which would include 32 rooms at the Executive Inn on E 18th Street in Antioch. The 2-year lease is estimated at $1,168,000 per year for a total not to exceed value of $2,336,000, to be paid from the allocation of $2.6M in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA funds) specified for this purpose by the City Council on April 12, 2022.
The idea to lease the Executive Inn for a homeless hotel was first proposed during a press conference by then Councilmember Lamar Thorpe and Joy Motts in July of 2020. At the time, Thorpe said the cost would be $1 million.
That press conference came just weeks after Governor Gavin Newsom and Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia announced the launch of Project Homekey in Pittsburg.
In June of 2023, the City of Richmond and City of Antioch saw the largest gains in homelessness in Contra Costa County according to data released in the 2023 Point in Time Count. Antioch saw its homeless numbers increase from 238 in 2020 to 334 in 2023.
5 comments
Is this a no smoking in the rooms facility? Just asking .
Antioch – home of the homeless.
Fires follow these people everywhere they go. Jeez, put ;em in a safe room, off the streets, and they still light fires.
Hopefully Antioch taxpayers won’t be paying the repair costs!! The Council majority (Thorpe. Wilson and Walker) never should have done this in the first place.
Antioch has become a lawless, filthy town under thr leadership of Thorpe. The state of this town directly reflects on its elected leaders. Vote all of them out first chance we get.
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