The Kissimmee hotel fire that displaced about 250 people last week was intentionally set, the State Fire Marshal's office said Tuesday.

  • State Fire Marshal: Unno Boutique Hotel fire intentionally set
  • Mattresses were lit near hotel with accelerant, agency said
  • Fire happened 2 days before Christmas, displaced about 250
  • Photos of a person sought for questioning released Tuesday 

State Fire Marshal spokesman Joel Brown said that the fire was "incendiary in nature."

A portion of the hotel was under renovation and a number of mattresses were stored outside against the building. Someone set those mattresses on fire.

The type of accelerant won't be determined until a lab analysis can be conducted, Brown said.

"Mattresses don't just spontaneously combust so someone would have had to ignite them," said Cynthia Campina, a lieutenant with the Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations. "And we're assuming there was an intent behind that ignite. What that intent was, we don't know."

The Bureau of Fire and Arson continues to investigate the fire. Surveillance video captured images of a white male wearing gray shorts with a black long-sleeve top and a blue-and-red baseball hat. The pictures were taken from the Unno Boutique Hotel. 

Investigators said the person seen in the surveillance photos may have valuable information regarding the fire and want to talk to the person. Anyone who can identify him or can provide information about him is asked to call 1-877-NO-ARSON (662-7766).

About 250 people were displaced in the Dec. 23 fire that destroyed part of the hotel at 2095 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, which also caters to pets.

Firefighters were called to the 130-room hotel before dawn Friday. Deputy Chief Daniel McAvoy said on scene that day that the hotel owners were conducting construction and renovating several rooms toward the back of the hotel. They think that's where the blaze may have begun.

Lance Thibodeau and his family were living at the Unno hotel. Thibodeau is disappointed to hear someone would purposely light their home on fire.

"Personally it's disgusting that somebody would do that to so many families, without any consideration of how it affects people. It doesn't just affect the people at the hotel but the whole community,” Thibodeau explained.

Thibodeau hopes the person or people behind this are caught.

"We have to take it day by day, it's one of those things," Thibodeau said. "We have to keep our spirits high and hope for the best and just deal with it as it comes. And hopefully good news will keep rolling in."

Anybody who can identify the person of intrerest or has any tips can call 1-877-NO-ARSON.

If you'd like to donate money to help the displaced victims, Osceola County has set up a PayPal account. Go to Osceola County's home page at Osceola.org and click on the red link at the top. Donations of items and goods are being accepted with a drop-off location at the Osceola Council on Aging, 700 Generation Point in Kissimmee.


The Unno Boutique Hotel on E. Irlo Bronson Highway in Kissimmee erupts in flames before dawn Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. The fire displaced about 250 people. (Sky 13)