After fire, half of Bruno's Motel in Gerlach destroyed

This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. to include new information. 

Half of the rooms at the beloved Bruno's Motel in Gerlach are "uninhabitable" after a fire broke out Sunday afternoon.

A pair of Washoe County firefighters responded to the fire reported in the Bruno's Motel laundry room at about 2:10 p.m. Sunday, according to Pat Irwin, fire services community coordinator in Gerlach. No one was in the motel when firefighters arrived on scene, and no injuries were reported.

"We were able to get our arms around it quick," Irwin said on Monday.

Crews extinguished the fire in about 45 minutes, Irwin said. Pyramid Lake Fire Department and Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District assisted with response and mop-up efforts. The case was handed over to the state fire marshal, who has not yet completed an official report, according to Irwin.

The fire marshal unofficially identified the laundry room dryer as the origin of the fire and found nothing immediately suspicious about the fire, according to Irwin. Although the flames were contained in the laundry room and the attic, the 20 rooms in the same building were destroyed by water damage. During the fire, the water heater burst and flooded the hall and rooms, according to Irwin.

Another 20 rooms in a separate motel building were unaffected by the incident, according to the Selmi family. The restaurant and bar also were unaffected. The family had no further comment pending the outcome of the fire marshal's completed inspection and report.

Images of the fire from the Truckee Meadow Fire Protection District showed one room entirely charred from the inside, with blackened walls and furniture, as well as a caved in ceiling.

"It will be up to the insurance company whether it’s a total loss. There’s a chance that they could rebuild. I’m leaning towards them being able to do it without rebuilding, but just getting rid of that smell, you have to tear the Sheetrock down. You can’t just paint over it. Everything smells like smoke," he said.

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Of the 75 calls on average per year that the Gerlach department responds to, most of the calls are medical emergencies, not fires, Irwin said.

"This is kind of a rarity," Irwin said.

Washoe County hired Irwin and one other permanent fulltime department employee in July to staff the department, which formerly was a volunteer department until December 2015, when all of the volunteers resigned. On Sunday, the community was a big help with moving ladders and hoses and supporting the fire crews, according to Irwin.

Bruno's Motel is just one of the businesses owned by Giovanni "Bruno" Selmi, who also owns a restaurant, gas station and other properties in the 200-person town about two hours north of Reno. The town is a popular stop for the 70,000 people who attend Burning Man in the nearby Black Rock Desert in September, and also is popular for travelers and hunters passing through the area.

Selmi's children now operate the multiple businesses. The restaurant and motel are considered the heart of "downtown" Gerlach. Selmi, an Italian immigrant who moved to the area in the 1940s, initially opened his restaurant, known especially for its ravioli, in 1950 but the original building burned to the ground in 1983. The townspeople of Gerlach at the time helped Selmi rebuild the restaurant.