Fire ravages hotel, restaurant in Winkler, Man.

Fire crews in the southern Manitoba city of Winkler battled flames and smoke for hours on Tuesday as a Main Street hotel burned.

Emergency crews rushed to the Quality Inn and Suites when fire was spotted on the roof around 4:30 p.m.

"Yeah, there was a huge fire. I just couldn't believe how devastating it was in such a short period of time," said Martin Harder, who was Winkler's mayor for 16 years and part owner of the hotel many years ago.

He was preparing something to eat when he looked out the window of his home and saw smoke. He went to see what was happening and within the few minutes it took to get to the fire, things had worsened dramatically.

"The sky was black, and later on, we saw the flames that were shooting up through the roof, and the whole centrepiece there came down."

A Smitty's Restaurant & Lounge is attached to the west end of the 54-room hotel, but Harder said it appears most of the restaurant wasn't structurally damaged.

'The middle is gone'

"The actual seating area of the restaurant looked like it was still standing, and some of the rooms on the east side [of the building] were still standing, but the rest in the middle is gone," he said.

That section contained the pool, several rooms and the kitchen area of Smitty's, he said.

In a posting on its Facebook page, the Quality Inn said all hotel and restaurant guests, staff and pets inside the building at the time of the fire got out safely. No injuries have been reported.

The cause of the fire remains unknown and is under investigation, and the hotel will be closed for the foreseeable future, the posting says.

The Winkler Fire Department was helped in fighting the blaze by crews from nearby Morden. Part of Highway 14 was closed to traffic to accommodate the emergency response.

"To keep that fire contained was a pretty big, big deal," said Harder. There are several other businesses in the area.

Guests with existing reservations are being contacted directly with support options, the hotel posted on Facebook.

One of those guests is Harder's friend, who's headed to Winkler next week from British Columbia. Harder had offered him a room in his house a while back, but the friend decided to book a room instead.

"I got a note from him this morning. He says, 'Is your offer still good? The hotel is gone,'" said Harder, who also had some plans change.

"I was supposed to be there for breakfast at 7 this morning, but obviously that got cancelled."

Aside from being a hotel, the Quality Inn was somewhat of a community gathering centre with the Smitty's Lounge, which had live entertainment many nights, Harder said.

"The impact will certainly be felt."