The worker was repairing an electrical panel in an area adjacent to a guest room when the fire broke out in the Kings Inn, near the Willowbrook Mall and Routes 23 and 80, shortly after 8 p.m., Wayne Police Detective Capt. Daniel Daly said.
He was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson by Wayne Memorial First Aid Squad, Daly said.
A hotel guest was taken to St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital, he said, adding that a third victim was treated at the scene.
Everyone else got out safely and no firefighters or police were injured, Daly said.
Firefighters had the blaze knocked down in under a half-hour, and a PSE&G crew rendered the electrical system safe, he said.
The hotel was deemed temporarily uninhabitable, however, because of a lack of electricity, so all guestst were moved to the nearby Ramada Inn, the captain said.
Police remained on-scene to management in escorting guests to their rooms to retrieve belongings.
The Kings Inn became infamous after it was discovered that 9/11 ringleader Mohamad Atta had stayed there and at the Wayne Inn, also on Route 23, in the weeks before the attacks.
Joining Wayne police, firefighters, first aid and OEM were members of the township building and health departments, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and Little Falls EMS, as well as paramedics from St. Joseph’s Health Care, Daly said.
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