A fire completely destroyed River’s End Motel located on Missouri Highway 83 on Wednesday, November 22. According to owner Jason Jones, the fire broke out in the utility room and quickly spread throughout the structure. At approximately 6:00 PM, a guest noticed smoke coming out of a vent in one of the rooms and reported it to the manager who was in the office. The Warsaw Fire Department was called but within an hour the structure was completely engulfed in flames.
Warsaw Fire Captain John Powell reported that three engines, six tankers, four brush trucks and a rescue truck were on the scene to combat the fire. There were 30 volunteer firefighters from Warsaw and Lincoln on the scene fighting the fire until 3:00 AM.
“The fire started at the center of the building so by the time we arrived the building was completely engulfed in flames,” said Powell. “The structure was a total loss but there was no evidence of foul play.”
“Thankfully, no one suffered any injuries,” said Jones. “We are so sad about this. We remodeled the entire property just a few short months ago and to have this happen after all the hard work we've put in it is devastating. The property was completely destroyed in a matter of minutes due to an electrical issue inside the utility room that started the blaze. We do want to thank the Warsaw Fire Department and the Warsaw Police for keeping the property secure and anyone else that assisted in controlling the fire. Seriously, THANK YOU! We're not sure what the future looks like but we're grateful for everyone that's reached out and offered help, condolences and prayers. We love you all and thank you for the support.”
“As you know my managers Sarah and Jeff Plaster and their daughter Ariel lived on the property so they didn't just lose their jobs, but they lost their home and everything in it," Jones added. "If you would like to donate to their family we've set up a GoFundMe page to assist them in starting over."
Presently the Plaster family is living in Jones' home in Warsaw. They are staying there until they can find a permanent residence and jobs. On Tuesday, the Plaster family was in Springfield looking for a place to live.
“We can’t find anything to rent in Warsaw so we are exploring other options,” said Sarah Plaster.
Sarah moved to Warsaw from Texas five years ago and had been the manager of River’s End Motel for the past five years. She had previously worked for Steve and Dawn Squires who owned the motel before Jones purchased it.
“We were getting ready to watch a movie in the office when the lights went off,” said Sarah Plaster. “My husband went to the utility room to check out the breaker box. He flipped the breaker but nothing happened. About that time, a guest called and reported that smoke was coming out of one of vents in his room. In a matter of minutes, the fire had spread. We think the fire started in the attic of the utility room so my husband was lucky to get out of there when he did,” said Plaster. “We called 911 and the Warsaw Fire Department was here in 17 minutes, but it was already too late. They worked until 3 in the morning but we lost everything; our home, our clothing and possessions and one of our cats.”
River’s End Motel had recently undergone an extensive remodel thanks to it's newest owner. Jones, who attended Warsaw High School in 1994-95 dropped out of high school, moved to Kansas City and began a career in sales.
Since then, Jones has bought numerous properties in Missouri and Kansas as well as an all-inclusive resort in Belize. Jones runs seven different companies in the hotel/motel/rental business as well as a rental boat in Osage Beach.
“When River’s End was available, I decided this would be a way to give back to the community that made an impression on me so many years ago,” said Jones.
Jones completely remodeled River’s End by investing over $400,000 to upgrade and bring back the motel to the family-oriented establishment it had been.
Since reopening in March, River’s End Motel had been booked every weekend.
Jones lives in Piper, Kansas, near the airport with his four children and girlfriend Trisha. They also have a house on Highway C near Warsaw where they visit on weekends.
By Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe campaign for the manager had raised more than $5,500.
