Fire at an Arlington Howard Johnson Express hotel on East Copeland Street forced guests out into the cold Friday morning.
Firefighters are battling a three alarm fire at an Arlington hotel Friday morning.
The fire department confirms the fire at the Howard Johnson Express Hotel in the 2000 block of East Copeland Road.
Arriving units reported to dispatch that there was smoke going through the roof.
"The smoke was black, black, like coming out of the building on the top, so it was pretty bad," said hotel guest Gabriella Rodriguez.
The hotel is near Six Flags Over Texas and the Arlington Convention Center.
Arlington Assistant Fire Chief Bill McQuatters said a passerby noticed the fire and called 911 just after 6:30 a.m.
"I heard the alarm going on, but I couldn't really tell if it was the fire alarm. It went off at one point or someone turned it off, and then it started going off again, that's when I got up and started getting everything out of the room," said hotel guest Levi Cole.
McQuatters said 50 people were evacuated from the hotel, two from ladders outside the hotel.
"There were people trying to get down and families, little kids, I was worried more about the little kids than I was about myself, letting them go through first," said Rodriguez.
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One person suffered minor smoke inhalation but there were no other injuries.
He said the fire was isolated to two rooms on the fourth floor but there is some smoke damage near those rooms.
No word on how the fire started.
