MADRASE Vana Hotell (tühjalt seisnud sajandivanune vahva tükk ajalugu) põles maani maha, läinud laupäeva ööl vastu pühapäeva. Paul sai sõna otseses mõttes tuleristsed - Ameerika Punase Risti regionaalse kiirreageerimisrühma liikmena.
Öösel 2:47 helises telefon. Riided selga, kohvi kurku, autole hääled sisse ja sündmuskohale. Koju jõudis Paul alles pühapäeval peale lõunat. Nimelt on vana hotelliga külg külje kõrval ka motell. Sealsed residendid evakueeriti, Punane Rist organiseeris neile ajutist peavarju Madrase seeniorikeskuses. Välivoodid, tekid-padjad, söök. Viimased motelli-elanikud lasti oma tubadessa tagasi alles esmaspäeva lõuna paiku.

Vanast hotellist kahju! Ehitatud ca 1913, Madrase vanim ühiskondlik hoone. Pole huvituseta märkida (mis tore eestikeelne väljend), et hotell kolis kohast teise, seitse aastat peale valmimist. Veeti täies tükis läbi Madrase linna. No seda imet oleks küll kaeda tahtnud!:)
Ühesõnaga. Viimaste aastate jooksul on üks ja teine kohalik üritanud hotellile elu sisse saada, aga ikka millegi taha pidama jäänud. Bürokraatia, vahendite nappus, see või teine. Linnarahvas kahtlustab, et vast sai tuli alguse kodutu kodaniku sigaretiotsast.
Aga Pauli ees müts maha!
Loe:
Oct28/2014
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OLD MADRAS HOTEL BURNED DOWN last Sunday. Also, Paul received his first disaster response call-out as RED CROSS VOLUNTEER and member of regional Disaster Response Team.
Phone was ringing 2:AM on Sunday. Paul got home no earlier than Sunday afternoon. Job description - sheltering residents of nearby motel. Well done Paul!

/.../Early-Sunday fire destroyed the century-old Old Madras Hotel and threatened nearby motel units that fire crews saved. The 18 adjacent motel units were evacuated as fire crews kept the flames from reaching them, and no injuries were reported. Residents of the motel forced to evacuate into the chilly night were taken to the Jefferson County Senior Center and the American Red Cross was called in to assist. 
The building was built around 1913 about a half-mile southwest of its current location, along the Oregon Trunk Railroad Line, to serve railroad visitors. It was called “The New Commercial Hotel,” as a 1916 silent film showed. Seven years later, after the railroad closed its route through Madras, the building was bought by local restaurateur and saloon-keeper Charles Hobson, who with one helper moved it cross-town to its current location along Fourth Street. 
In the 1930s, new owner E.C. Weber, expecting tourism along Highway 97, added the motel units south of the main building. During World War II, it housed soldiers from the nearby Madras Army Airbase. 
In recent years, a local couple had tried to bring the building back to life as a bed-and-breakfast, but the effort stalled, with structural problems such as defunct heating and questionable wiring./.../ 
Read more: 
Photos: Linda Larson, Kevin O'Brien, Epp, Lauren Martinez, James & Julie.
Oct28/2014