Dayton Assistant Fire Chief Jeffrey Payne said the fire is suspicious, and started on the first floor on the west side of the building. It extended to the second floor, and three or four rooms were involved.
Payne called the homeless population in the building a continuing problem. "There's lots of broken glass where people can get inside", he said.
He added that plywood which was placed over other windows had been pulled away.
Markita Williams is night shift manager at the McDonald's next door. She said a lady came in and asked, "Do you smell smoke?"
"Sure enough" , said Markita. "The building was on fire."
She said there are a lot of homeless people in the area, and added "they really need to shut it (the Econo Lodge) down."
Nancy Marsh was just coming home from work in Springboro when she spotted smoke. She said something just didn't look right. Then, as she was calling 911, she "could hear the crackling."
Marsh also acknowledged that there are a lot of homeless people in the area. "It could be somebody trying to stay warm ...it's a little bit chilly out here."
The first fire on March 9 is being investigated as a possible arson, fire officials said. That fire was contained to two rooms on the first and second floors at the back of the hotel that faces I-75 south.
The closed motel was tightly secured to keep people out, fire officials have said. The barrier work appears to not have kept vagrants out at all.