Dear Editor,
In reference to the story “Hotel fire leads to meth lab arrest,” we are disappointed your paper did not thoroughly investigate the story before going to print.
Here’s what happened. Due to the property being closely self-monitored, a watchful tenant notified staff a man ran from a motel room suspiciously and jumped into a car. The door to the room was open and there appeared to be smoke inside. A member of staff immediately ran into the room and called 911. The fire department and the media arrived shortly afterward. Nothing was found by anyone except one small black duffel bag, which had started to smoke and then burn. The bag was removed by the fire department and set upon a picnic table outside where it was extinguished. That was the extent of the meth lab being on the property. The fire marshal, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, and State Hotel and Restaurants all inspected and deemed the damage to be minimal. There was a small burn on the dresser. There were no other physical or chemical damage. The owner of this duffel bag was only on the property for minutes.
The room had not been rented to this person and the person it was rented to had just checked in the night before. Due to the actions of the Emerald Sands Inn a fire was probably averted. No one from the media contacted the owner, manager or an employee before writing this story. We are pleased the suspect was apprehended.
In the future we request the media to get the whole store before disseminating it to the public. We work with many government agencies, churches, and civic organizations to insure the Emerald Sands Inn is a safe and secure environment.
Charlene Ford, manager
Emerald Sands Inn
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Get the whole story first