The flames were confined to a two-room suite on the second floor in the rear of the building at 3040 Fifth Ave. S., according to Fire Department Capt. Steve Teske. The incident remained under investigation Saturday afternoon by city police and firefighters along with the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

“There were some indications that the fire may not have been accidental,” Teske said.

City firefighters and police were dispatched to a reported room fire in the hotel at 10:05 a.m. When firefighters arrived they found smoke in the hallways.

“They were in the process of evacuating,” Teske said. “There were people in the lobby and the police and us moved them along.”

Messenger photo by Bill Shea A Fort Dodge firefighter pulls a hoseline into the Days Inn, 3040 Fifth Ave. S., as firefighters extinguish a blaze there that damaged a two-room suite and filled the building with smoke. No one was injured. The incident remains under investigation by city firefighters and police along with the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Firefighters used one hose line to extinguish the flames in Room 243 of the hotel. A large diameter hose line was connected to a hydrant along Fifth Avenue South near the entrance to Culver’s, Jimmy John’s and Pancheros.

“Really we didn’t use that much water, so there’s no water damage, but there’s heavy smoke damage,” Teske said.

He said firefighters forced their way into a room next to the one that was on fire because of a report that someone was inside. However, that person had escaped unharmed on their own. Teske said a pass card was used to enter all of the other rooms so that firefighters could make sure no one was inside.

There is no sprinkler system in the wing of the hotel where the fire occurred, Teske said.

Five off-duty firefighters were called in to assist.

Firefighters were on the scene until 12:41 p.m. Some of them returned to the scene later in the afternoon to assist in the investigation.