Fire burns at Seabrook Hampton Inn for hours

Firefighters battle a fire at the Hampton Inn in Seabrook on Thursday. Firefighters battle a fire at the Hampton Inn in Seabrook on Thursday. Photo: Stuart Villanueva, Associated Press Photo: Stuart Villanueva, Associated Press Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Fire burns at Seabrook Hampton Inn for hours 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

About 100 firefighters from several departments battled into the night to control a blaze that gutted a hotel in Seabrook near the Johnson Space Center.

The fire broke out at about 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hampton Inn, 3000 NASA Road 1. About 20-25 guests and staff were inside when someone noticed a smell of smoke at the hotel.

"Our primary concern was for the safety of the residents," said Andrew Gutacker, assistant chief of Seabrook's fire department.

There were no reports of any injuries and all the guests and hotel workers were accounted for, authorities said.

Jim Prata works at MarineMax, a boat dealership across the street from the hotel. He saw smoke billowing out of the hotel then ran across to alert the people inside.

"I went in and told them the building was on fire," Prata said as fire crews continued blasting the flames with geysers of water.

"There were people coming out. They were saying, 'Let's get out of here!'" Prata said.

Once the guests and staff were accounted for, fire crews staged a defensive battle against the fire, which sent thick clouds of smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles.

# BREAKING -- Firefighters are battling a blaze at a hotel in Seabrook. WATCH LIVE: http://t.co/DT6qMGGvSj #hounews pic.twitter.com/gl3EHmIplo — Houston News (@abc13houston) April 30, 2015

"We had to pull all our firefighters out of the building," Gutacker said.

A Seabrook fire boat joined the battle, pumping water from Clear Lake that was used to help douse the flames.

"I can't believe it. It's unreal," Prata said as the flames continued ripping through the hotel's facade.

By 9 p.m., the fire had been brought under control. Harris County fire marshals will begin their investigation into the cause of the fire once it is safe to enter the building, officials said.

City officials said there are sufficient hotel spaces in the area for anyone who might have made a reservation.

Chron.com's Dana Thompson contributed to this report.