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Motel Near Disney's Animal Kingdom Goes Up In Flames

KISSIMMEE (CBS4) - Eight people were hospitalized, including two firefighters, after a motel near one of Walt Disney World's theme parks went up in flames.

Osceola County Fire Rescue officials said guests at the Vacation Lodge Maingate in Kissimmee were evacuated Sunday night when the fire began at the 430-room motel. As the flames spread and grew more intense, the structures roof collapsed.

More than 100 firefighters were called in to battle the massive blaze.

Investigators believe the fire started in one room before spreading to five others and then eventually to the entire building.

Early Monday, authorities closed a highway near the motel which is about a mile away from Animal Kingdom.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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