CLAXTON, Ga. -- Firefighters in southeast Georgia say a cooking fire at a hotel in Claxton forced occupants to be evacuated overnight.
    
WTOC-TV reports the fire broke out at the Budget Inn early Wednesday shortly after midnight. Claxton Fire Chief Harold Rogers says a man who lives at the hotel was cooking with hot grease, which caught fire and spread.
    
Rogers says flames caused heavy damage to two units at the hotel, and seven others had smoke damage. But all occupants of the hotel escaped safely.
    
The Red Cross helped 14 people displaced by the fire find new lodging.
    
Hotel manager Larry Rawls says he's devastated. He says it's the second time in six years a fire has erupted at the Budget Inn.

Associated Press