Gwinnett hotel guest arrested after room catches fire
A guest at a Gwinnett County extended-stay hotel was arrested Wednesday after his room caught fire before daybreak.
Gwinnett fire Lt. Eric Eberly said the fire, which broke out just before 7 a.m. at the Studio Plus hotel in the 7000 block of Jimmy Carter Boulevard, was apparently started by food left cooking on a stove in a second-floor room.
Firefighters forced entry into that room, where they found Julius Duke unconscious on the bed.
Duke, 30, was removed from the room and revived, but refused further treatment from paramedics.
Eberly said Duke was “extremely combative and wanted back inside his room.” Duke was charged with reckless endangerment, and is also facing drug charges.
Ken Thompson was renting a room across the hallway from Duke.
Thompson said he had just gotten up when he smelled smoke.
“I opened the door and the hallway was filled with smoke,” Thompson told the AJC.
“I called 911 and she said call the manager,” Thompson said. “I didn’t know how to reach the manager, so I said why don’t I go out there and bang on doors.”
Thompson said the smoke coming from Duke’s room was “really bad – enough to be concerned that you knew there was fire and that you had to get out immediately.”
No other injuries were reported in the fire, which forced some 60 to 80 hotel guests from their rooms for about an hour.
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John Spink is a multi-platform photojournalist with the breaking news team. He provides compelling photos, video and audio from breaking news events for the AJC and media partners WSB Channel 2 Action News & WSB Radio
