Part of historical El Rancho complex destroyed in fire

Updated at 4:15 p.m. with additional information.

BARSTOW • A fire destroyed part of a historical building connected to Route 66 early Thursday morning on Main Street.

Firefighters were called to the El Rancho Motel due to a structure fire at Cedar Restaurant and Travel Store — once known as the El Rancho Restaurant — on the 100 block of East Main Street at about 1:11 a.m.  

Barstow Fire Protection Chief Darrell Jauss said the historical building was unoccupied and no one was injured when the fire broke out in the attic.

According to the manager of El Rancho Motel, Isaac Esquivel, he was sitting in the main office of the motel — which faces the back of the restaurant — when he called the fire department at around 1 a.m.

“I didn’t see that many flames,“ said Isaac. “I just saw a lot of black smoke coming out of the building when I made the call. I think the fire probably started earlier.”

About 20 Barstow Fire Department firefighters arrived at the scene at 1:15 a.m.

According to Jauss, firefighters received help from the Marine Corps Logistics Base Fire Department and from the Barstow Police, but by the time firefighters arrived the fire was very big and had consumed most of the building.

“We were able to stop the fire but by the time we did the roof collapsed in,” Jauss said. “We are also  concerned that the main wall might collapse.”

The fire was contained in two hours and was put out in four hours.

“We wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t spread further to the neighboring businesses,” Jauss said.

Residents of the El Rancho Motel behind the restaurant weren’t notified about the fire until 2 a.m.

“A cop woke me up and told me to get out of my room,” William Snider, said. “ I didn’t have any idea what was going on, I just did what I was told.”

At around noon Thursday firefighters were gutting the building and trying to stop smaller pockets of smoke that were smoldering inside the restaurant.

There is currently no estimate on the damage of the building.

Calls to the owner of Cedar Restaurant and Travel Store were not returned Thursday.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

In the past different parts of the historical structure have caught fire. The El Rancho Motel caught fire once in 2005 and again in 2006, causing an electrical power failure and an injury to a firefighter.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4126 or fcasella@desertdispatch.com