Motel Evacuated After Meth Lab Found

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Omaha, Nebraska native, Anthony Collins and his family are experienced "road warriors."

So, on their first vacation trip to Memphis to attend the famed World Championship Bar-Be-Que Cooking Contest, Collins & Company were hoping to add to their collection of travel memories.

Collins explains, "Every time we go somewhere, we always got a story to tell and so this will be part of our story to tell when we get back to Omaha."

While they've enjoyed the sights in Memphis, so far, the Collins' scrapbook will now include memories of a far stranger moment captured in pictures. Hey, remember the time we found ourselves rousted from our motel rooms by Memphis firefighters?
Whoo....hoooooooo!

Collins remembers, "I thought it actually was my friend telling met to get up, 'cause we had a late night. But, pounding on the door was the fire department to tell everybody we had to evacuate. We was asking questions. Why? They said we don't know. You just got to evacuate."

However, it didn't take long for two fire-fighting companies, called to the Sleep Inn in Raleigh by an alarm that went off, to figure out why none of the 40 to 45 guests would be sleeping-in late on Friday morning.

MFD veteran Lt. Robert Quarrells says when the firefighters arrived they found, "Went to the third floor, noticed a slight cloud, and received information from the people here in the motel that they felt someone was in one of the rooms conducting drug activities."

Quarrells' confirmed, "It's a meth lab. I think they call it "shake and bake" now. They don't have to use all the hard to get stuff anymore. They can just do it with simple chemicals. But, what that does is make it a lot more dangerous."

Despite finding, what was described by firefighters and HAZMAT crews as two bottles of abandon "product" found outside a room window and a third inside the unidentified room, none of the bewildered guests were harmed or complained of sickness.

As for the little "ole" Meth-makers themselves?

So, the guys who did this have already checked out? Define "checked out?" They checked out on foot! (ha, ha, ha,)

But, once he was allowed to return to his motel room, Anthony Collins, was still ready to give the Bluff City an entertainment whirl....and its crime problems the benefit of the doubt.

Collins concluded, "We think Memphis is a great place. This certainly won't stop us from coming back or saying something...any bad things against Memphis.

Official Statement from MPD:

The Memphis Police Departments Organized Crime Unit was called to the Sleep Inn Hotel at 2855 Austin Peay Highway this morning shortly after 9:00 AM.

The Memphis Fire Department had responded to a smoke detection alarm at the hotel and was in the process of evacuating the top three floors when they noticed smoke fumes coming from one of the rooms. The guest of the room had left but fire department personnel noticed several soda bottles had been tossed out the window of the room. The bottles were filled with unknown chemicals. The scene was secured awaiting the arrival of the Memphis Police Department Organized Crime Unit.

The Organized Crime Unit investigators located several items used in the manufacturing process of crystal methamphetamines. These items were located both inside and outside the room and on the hotel grounds. The meth lab was dismantled and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency was notified. A cleanup crew was dispatched to the hotel.

A witness advised the fire alarm sounded and she went to the third floor to determine the cause. The witness observed two individuals, in a room, attempting to disconnect the smoke detector. Both these individuals fled the scene prior to the arrival of police. This investigation remains active.