Firefighters respond to a fire in a room at the Altoona Grand Hotel on Wednesday evening. The room was deemed a total loss, with the cause of the fire pending a fire marshal investigation. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor

The Altoona Grand Hotel was evacuated Wednesday evening after a room fire filled the building with smoke.

Room 270 had a “tall, intense fire” that looked “like it started on a nightstand,” said Michael Boring, chief of the Allegheny Township Volunteer Fire Department.

“It spread through the walls, the bed caught on fire, the carpet was burning,” Boring said. “But it was contained to just one room.”

Boring said the room was a total loss and there would be smoke damage throughout the building. The cause of the fire remains unknown pending an investigation by the fire marshal.

A challenging aspect of the fire was getting the hotel’s occupants to evacuate, Boring said.

“A lot of them were ignoring orders,” Boring said. “We had to basically tell them ‘get out, the building is on fire.'”

No injuries were reported.

Allegheny was joined on scene by the Logan Township, Phoenix, Lakemont and Duncansville fire departments, as well as AMED.