Fire that ravaged Petersburg motel impacts business months later

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — A fire that ravaged a motel in Petersburg in late April and left 29 families without a home is still considered a problem by many who still live and work there.

One of the buildings of the American Inn Motel was left severely damaged and in need of costly repairs after the flames were finally put out and the damage surveyed.

Although it’s been four months since flames nearly leveled the motel on County Drive, the fire left its mark with a number of other problems.

Motel owner Sunny Anand said business there has almost ceased, in addition to the lack of foot traffic, insurance woes make Anand feel unsure of when he will be back at full operating speed.

“I don’t know who to blame, what to blame,” Anand said.

He says that business at the motel hasn’t been the same since the April 23 fire nearly destroyed one of the buildings and left dozens of people displaced.

Only a handful of families are still living on the property, others moved on to other places out of fear.

As of August, the city of Petersburg has since condemned the building and Anand said his insurance struggles have turned into an uphill battle. He says that his insurance is capped at around $750,000, and he needs a minimum of one million dollars to get the necessary repairs accomplished.

“Very, very frustrated. We could not, we could not start anything. I’m still working hard on one building,” Anand said. “We are trying to survive. It’s a survival game right now for us.”

Anand switched insurance companies over previous years and says that he received the renewal letter at the beginning of 2024, notifying him his coverage would double.

“I will say that because the cost of insurance was going through the roof and I under underinsured my building. When the renewal came, I dropped a lot of stuff not knowing there’s going to be fire, you know, and it is my bad luck,” Anand said.

The long-time business owner says that the motel is currently only 30 to 40% occupied. But not giving up, he plans on exhausting all possibilities to get his business back up to full capacity because he feels the motel is his life and people are depending on him.

“Because I had to pay all the cost, you know, electricity, water, sewage, you know, all employees. So those. Those are fixed costs,” Anand said.

Anand says that once the rebuilding process does begin, he expects it should take about six months to complete. He says he has already contacted another bank for a loan and should have a new direction to take on the path to complete rebuilding process soon.

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