Downtown Hotel Destroyed By Fire Being Torn Down

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UPDATE (07-30-18): The fire has been ruled accidental and businesses around the Bayview Hotel building are safe to open again, per the Daytona Beach Fire Department.

Demolition work should be completed by the end of the week, according to city spokesperson Susan Cerbone.

Eastbound traffic is running again on Orange Avenue between Beach Street and Palmetto Avenue. Westbound lanes remain closed.

Earlier reporting below.

Daytona Beach, FL - The massive hotel fire which spewed thick black smoke over much of downtown Daytona Beach is forcing the city to knock down the building where it started.

City officials condemned the Bayview Hotel building within hours of the flames being extinguished by firefighters from all over Volusia County.

Daytona Beach Fire Department spokesperson Sasha Staton says yesterday's fire and the water used to knock it down did so much structural damage to the historic building that it can't be saved.

"The structure is in imminent danger of collapse," Staton added. "A demolition contractor has been retained by the city and emergency demo work will begin [today]."

All lanes of Orange Avenue from Beach Street to Palmetto Avenue will be closed until the building has been demolished.

No injuries were reported, but at least 50 people at the hotel when the fire broke out needed temporary shelter at the First Baptist Church nearby after escaping the flames.

Click here to see more photos of the fire.

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