United States (Alabama) - A piece of Tallassee's rich history went up in smoke as firefighters from at least seven different departments battled a blaze that all but destroyed Hotel Talisi early Monday. The fire appears to have originated at a consignment store adjacent to the hotel and spread to it," said Tallassee Police Department Chief Jimmy Rodgers. "The structure (hotel) is severely damaged, but as far as if the business will be considered a total loss has yet to be determined."

The consignment store where the fire started, The Smarty Pants Consignment Shop located at 19 Sistrunk Street in downtown Tallassee, was also destroyed.

"Firefighters have contained the fire to what appears to be those two buildings," Rodgers said.

At least five other fire departments including the Tallassee Fire Department responded to the fire call around 3:30 a.m. Monday, Rodgers said.

One of Hotel Talisi's four residents at the time of the fire was Corby Bodenburg and his fiancee, Kristine Shores.

Bodenburg's mother, Dawn Bodenburg, is one of Hotel Talisi's seven owners.

"My fiancee woke me up and told me the power was out," said Corby Bodenburg, who was living on the third floor of the hotel. "Then I went downstairs and I took a look through a window at the end of the hallway at the Smarty Pants building and all I could see was a blaze of orange flames."

After making sure his fiancee and the other two residents of the hotel were safely out, Corby Bodenburg was able to go back into the hotel save his pet cat Naughty, a rescue Calico, and a computer from the building.

"When the fire spread from the consignment store to hotel, it moved pretty quickly," Corby Bodenburg said. "It was all that dry pine, and when the fire hit the attic, I'm sure it just crawled from there."

By that time, Corby Bodenburg says the firefighters had broken a window on the third floor and instructed him to climb down, using a ladder an option he says he didn't think twice about.

"I looked down at I thought to myself that there's no way I'm hopping out of this window," Corby Bodenburg said. "I'm 350 pounds."

He climbed down to safety a short time later.

The 20-room, three-story Hotel Talisi, located at 14 Sistrunk Street, has a history that dates back to 1924 and has undergone extensive renovations, according to Dawn Bodenburg, who purchased the hotel in November.

Whether she plans to try and rebuild the hotel is something Dawn Bodenburg says it's difficult to predict at this point.

"There's no way to rebuild a historical monument," she said, who was grateful that her son and none of the other residents of the hotel were injured. "This hotel was the heart of Tallassee."

The cause of the fire is under investigation by City of Tallassee officials, as well as the state's Fire Marshal's Office, Rodgers said.

Written by Opelika-Auburn News