Hotel where Hemingway stayed burns to ground

? A hotel that claimed to be a one-time writing headquarters for Ernest Hemingway was destroyed in a fire Friday morning, authorities said.

Authorities said 10 staff members and one guest were in the Compleat Angler Hotel. The hotel’s owner, Julian Brown, helped the guest escape before disappearing in the flames to fight the fire.

He was presumed dead, although the island’s small volunteer fire brigade had not found his remains, authorities said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Bimini Chief Councilor Natasha Bullard-Rolle said among the artifacts lost were books autographed by Hemingway, original photographs and a replica of his fishing boat.