PHOENIX - A high-rise building fire caused the evacuation of a nearby hotel early Tuesday.
The fire, breaking out after 3 a.m. near the Loop 101 and Tatum Boulevard, prompted a two-alarm response with as many as 80 firefighters involved, fire department spokesperson Capt. Ardell Deliz said.
The building was a hotel under construction, near the site of a Holiday Inn Express, which firefighters evacuated.
Trying to keep the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, firefighters set up defensive positions near the Holiday Inn and searched the surrounding desert for embers.
Thirty-four rooms were occupied in the Holiday Inn and all 49 guests were evacuated, according to officials.
Hotel guest, Irma Zuko, got the scary morning wakeup call.
“I looked outside and I could see the giant flame in the reflection in that building across the street from here and saw two women running in the parking lot," Zuko said.
General Manager, Anju Desai, calls one of her overnight employees a hero.
“He actually started with me about two weeks ago," Desai said. "He got the checklist. He went through the hallways. He made sure every guest was evacuated.”
A guest who woke up to the hotel's fire alarms told 12 News that firefighters planned to escort guests back to the hotel so they could collect their belongings and transfer to another Holiday Inn hotel.
The Holiday Inn suffered damage to the exterior, with scorched walls and blown-out windows.
No one was reported hurt, though five officers were evaluated for smoke inhalation.
Steve Wilson is a project manager on the construction site. He says about 60 to 70 of his guys are out of work today, and he doesn’t know when they can start rebuilding.
“When I got the call this morning, I thought it had to be a sad joke," Wilson said. "I couldn’t believe something like this would happen.”
Wilson says the construction site was expecting to finish up on August 15. Now a new date will be set. The Holiday Inn's general manager says she'll probably have to close the hotel doors for a couple months for cleanup.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
PHOTOS: High-rise fire, Aug. 2, 2016