90 Percent Of Western Mass Motel Destroyed In Late-Night Fire

Seventeen people were displaced when a two-alarm fire tore through a well-known, family-owned Franklin County motel over the weekend, authorities said.

A fast-moving fire burned 90 percent of The Rainbow Motel in Whately over the weekend.
Photo Credit: *Whately Fire Department*

The aftermath of the two-alarm fire on the 16-room, family-owned motel.
Photo Credit: *Whately Fire Department*

Josh Lanier

05/20/2024 6:31 p.m.

The fire began at The Rainbow Motel at 64 State Road in Whately just after midnight on Saturday, May 18, the Whately Fire Department said in a Facebook post. The fire burned so hot and fast that 10 agencies from surrounding communities sent firefighters, equipment, and mutual aid to battle the blaze.

The department said 10 of the 16 motel rooms were heavily burned in the fire.

Luckily, no one was injured, but a Whately building inspector told Western Mass News that the building was 90 percent destroyed in the blaze.

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