Are there bodies to be found in the rubble at the St. Francis Hotel?

The loss of the St. Francis Hotel Friday, Nov. 1, disturbed many in the community, especially those who hailed the proposed rejuvenation of the historic hotel as an important harbinger of much needed economic development in Uptown Susanville.

The hotel, built in the early 20^th century, served a popular and successful hub of community activity for many years thanks to its restaurant, bar and banquet room.

Several attempts to revitalize the building failed in the past few years and until recently purchased, it had been abandoned, vandalized and sometimes used as shelter by the homeless.

When news of the building’s early Friday morning destruction lit up social media, some believed the homeless were to blame for the blaze that also destroyed the Utopia Management office next door and damaged nearby properties.

According to a statement from the Susanville Public Safety, a local business owner in the area came forward with a surveillance video in which a single suspect, identified as Tahnee Willow Orr, 39, of Susanville, was seen entering the St. Francis. Orr was inside for approximately 2 minutes before exiting the building, and a few moments later, what appears to be a combustible explosion took place on the second floor of the building. Less than 3 minutes later, a police officer pulled up to the building and made the initial notification reporting the fire.

Later Friday, law enforcement contacted and interviewed Orr. Statements Orr made to police officers led to her arrest on a charge of aggravated arson and her custody in the Lassen County Jail.

At the Wednesday, Nov. 6, Susanville City Council meeting, Susanville City Manager Dan Newton said the Department of Emergency Services “sent out a cadaver dog and handler to inspect the site and see if … anyone was trapped or if there were dead bodies in the building. The dog did hit on a few areas, and so we needed to take time to inspect and search for bodies. None were found, but that doesn’t mean the site has been completely entered and inspected, so it’s possible there is somebody in there … ”

Public Safety Chief Michael Bollinger said, “Obviously, there are a lot of the rumors on Facebook … The individual we feel caused the fire went into the building for less than 2 minutes, walked out, and 9 minutes later, the entire bottom floor was fully involved — engulfed in flames. Once that fire started, a police officer doing business checks pulled up on scene less that 3 minutes later. He turned around, notified dispatch, tones go off to the fire department, they show up 5 minutes later, and that entire building is on fire, folks — first floor, second floor, through the roof. It’s actually pretty amazing it didn’t do more damage in the neighborhood. It’s something that no one who arrived on the scene had ever seen before.”

Lassennews.com’s attempts to contact Bollinger for comment and an update on this story proved unsuccessful.