Category Archives: Hotel / Motel

Palm Springs, CA – Sprinkler system successfully activates in hotel fire; No injuries

A hotel fire in Palm Springs caused the sprinklers to go off and evacuated guests about 9:30 p.m. Monday night. It happened at the Extended Stay Hotel on Tahquitz Canyon Way.

Firefighters believe the fire was started by one of the guests but aren’t saying how it started. There are no reports of injuries.  Sixteen guest rooms were affected by water damage.  Fire crews continued to mop-up the mess Monday night.  The hotel is working on finding new places for guests to stay.

Reno, NV – Fire in basement laundry at hotel casino contained with help from sprinkler system

A fire in a basement laundry room at the Peppermill Hotel Casino forced a brief evacuation of the property Friday afternoon.

Employees at the hotel attacked the blaze with fire extinguishers and the hotel’s sprinkler system also kicked in to contain the blaze as Reno firefighters responded shortly after noon. Firefighters quickly knocked down the flames, evacuated the smoke from the building and checked to ensure it hadn’t spread into other areas of the building, Battalion Chief Mark Winkelman said.

Meanwhile, hotel guests and employees were evacuated into the frigid afternoon air. Many huddled in towels and blankets until they were allowed back inside about an hour later. Guests described the scene inside as calm and orderly as they walked down the stairs to get out of the building.  While some guests saw smoke, none said they saw flames.

Keith and Mallory Lynch of San Francisco were celebrating their wedding anniversary with a couples massage at the hotel spa when the fire alarm sounded and they were asked to leave the building. They stood outside in bathrobes and flip-flops, shivering in the 34-degree weather.

“At first they told us not to worry, but then they said we had to leave,” Keith Lynch said. “Luckily we were near the end of the massage.” Corey Mathes, of Fresno, was taking a shower and getting ready for her 4 p.m. wedding at the hotel when security knocked on the door and told her and fiance Craig Frantzich to evacuate.

“My dress is still up there,” she said, noting she grabbed the wedding rings but failed to get their wedding license. “I will beg a firefighter to go get my dress!”

She and Frantzich have been together for 23 years. “We’ll get married today one way or another,” she said.

Winkelman said the damage didn’t appear to be extensive. The blaze put out billows of smoke after lint on the ceiling caught fire, he said. The sprinkler system also caused some water damage.

Peppermill spokeswoman Katie Silva put out a brief statement: “We experienced a fire in our laundry room this afternoon. We appreciate the quick and professional response by the Reno Fire Department in extinguishing the fire.”

 

Riverside, CA – Hotel fire in third floor linen closet extinguished by sprinkler system

A small fire that broke out Friday in a Riverside hotel after a holiday lighting ceremony was quickly extinguished by a fire sprinkler, officials said.  Fire officials noted smoke and an electrical burning smell in the Mission Inn Hotel lobby and upper floors shortly after an annual switch-on Christmas lighting ceremony took place, the Riverside Fire Department said in a press release.

A sprinkler in a third-floor linen room was activated and the fire was quickly extinguished, officials said. Fire crews shut down the sprinkler and water seeped through the floor, leaking into the second and first floors of the hotel.

Visitors and guests were temporarily displaced from the hotel and were allowed back into their rooms when the leaks were controlled.  Discarded fireworks debris from the Festival of Lights switch-on ceremony was ignited in a trash can and started the fire, investigators said.

Mission Inn officials said they will continue in-house salvage operations. Initial reports stated that only two guest rooms had water damage. There were no reported injuries.

Chambersburg, PA – Sprinkler system controls fire at La Quinta Inn until fire crews arrive

The fire broke out around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday at the La Quinta Inn and Suites in the 100 block of Walker Road in the borough, said Chambersburg Deputy Fire Chief Dustin Ulrich in a news release.  A sprinkler system helped control the blaze until crews were in place, and the fire was under control around 10:25 a.m., Ulrich said.

Fire crews arrived to find that a mulch fire had extended to the building, Ulrich said. The fire quickly spread to the third floor of the building and the attic before a second alarm was requested around 8:50 a.m.

The state police fire marshal ruled the fire accidental. No estimate was immediately available as to the amount of damage, Ulrich said, adding that the building was uninhabitable until repairs can be made.

No injuries were reported to either firefighters or to the 25 families occupying the hotel. Crews from the Franklin Fire Department, Fayetteville Fire and EMS, Marion Fire Department, Letter Kenny Fire Department, New Franklin Fire Department, Waynesboro Fire Department, Greencastle Fire Department, West End Fire and Rescue, Mont Alto Fire Department, Cumberland Valley Hose Company, Vigilant Hose Company and Holy Sprit EMS responded to the fire.

Bridgeport, WV – Fire at TownePlace Suites hotel contained to 3-by-3 foot area by sprinkler system

The TownePlace Suites on Platinum Drive in Bridgeport caught fire Monday morning. Crews were dispatched to the hotel at approximately 9:20 a.m. after receiving a fire alarm activation notification and a call from the front desk advising there was something on fire on the fourth floor.

The Bridgeport Fire Department Chief said a candle left unattended in one of the rooms caught fire. The fire was contained in a 3-by-3 foot area on the fourth floor.  The third and fourth floor rooms are uninhabitable due to water damage. The fire chief said the sprinkler system kicked on as it should have, and the hotel is trying to get a water restoration company to come in and get the water cleaned up.

The Bridgeport Fire Department responded. The Anmoore, Nutter Fort, Clarksburg and Mount Clare Fire Departments, Harrison County EMS and Bridgeport Police assisted on scene.

Hampton, VA – Early morning fire at InTown Suites Hotel controlled with help from sprinkler system; No injuires

Hampton firefighters battled a fire at a hotel on W. Mercury Blvd. early Friday morning. The hotel, which had at least 105 registered guests, was evacuated as a result of the fire. Crews found alternative accommodations at area hotels for the displaced guests, and even provided transportation for guests who were unable to drive themselves to the new location.

Friday afternoon, fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was unattended cooking in one of the rooms. Firefighters say the fire started on the second floor of the InTown Suites, and was contained to that area. The hotel guests were evacuated due to safety reasons. Dominion Power turned off power to the building as a safety measure and will determine when it is safe to turn it back on.

According to Asst. Fire Chief Maurice Wilson with the Hampton Fire Division, crews responded to the InTown Suites in the 2100 block of W. Mercury Blvd. around 3:30 a.m. after receiving notice of a fire alarm. “I opened the door it was just pure fire,” resident Eddie Rife said. “It was on fire and we couldn’t do anything about it so we just started getting everybody out.”

Eddie Rife said he ran from floor to floor with hotel workers trying to get people out. But, he found a woman in a wheel-chair other people forgot. “I ended up running into her room grabbing her putting her in her wheelchair,” he explained. “I tried to go down the elevator but it was too smokey and the elevator was out so I have to take her by the steps.”

Firefighters arrived to find the fire on the second floor in room 221. Wilson says the sprinkler system activated which helped firefighters bring the fire under control in about 10 minutes.

When the sprinkler system went off, it also leaked water into a few first floor rooms and caused smoke and water damage. Wilson says the hotel was evacuated and two people complained of smoke inhalation. Both were evaluated on the scene and didn’t go to the hospital.

According to Wilson, no one has claimed to be staying in the room where the fire started.

InTown Suites released this statement about the fire:

“ InTown Suites is aware of a small and isolated fire that occurred this morning in one of our rooms. Our fire suppression systems worked as designed and the fire was quickly extinguished.  According to Hampton fire officials, no persons required medical attention as a result of this incident. The safety of our guests is of utmost importance and we thank the Hampton Fire Department for their quick response.   We are working with authorities and local contractors to fully restore services and will continue to make as our guests as comfortable as possible while we resolve this issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waterloo, IA – Fire at Ramada Hotel contained to housekeeping closet by sprinkler system

Authorities are continuing to investigate a fire that closed down a downtown hotel over the weekend. No injuries were reported when a fire started in a maid’s closet at the Ramada Hotel, 205 W. Fourth St., at 9:27 a.m. Sunday.

Smoke triggered a sprinkler in the closet, and water flowed all the way to the lobby, said Battalion Chief Marty Freshwater with Waterloo Fire Rescue. He said there also was smoke on other floors, and the smell could be detected on the ground floor.

Ramada was evacuated and remained closed for Sunday to allow for repairs and cleanup, Freshwater said. The cause hasn’t been determined, but investigators have ruled out electrical reasons and traditional causes.

Flames damaged boxes of paperwork that were stored in the closet but didn’t spread outside the room. Freshwater said the door and sprinkler kept the fire in check but didn’t put it out. Firefighters extinguished the blaze.

At the time of the hotel fire, crews were busy fighting a garage fire, Freshwater said. A neighbor called in the garage fire at 621 Peek St. at about 8:53 a.m. Sunday.

 

The fire gutted the double-stall detached garage. No vehicles were inside, but heat damaged a Chevrolet Corvette parked next to it. The garage was a total loss, and the cause is under investigation. The garage was fitted with a wood burning stove, Freshwater said.

Red Oak, TX – No injuries at Comfort Inn as sprinkler system contains fire to room of origin

No injuries are reported after a small fire Monday left behind smoke and water damage at a Red Oak hotel. Guests and employees evacuated the Comfort Inn, located in the 400 block of North Interstate 35 East Service Road, after the fire alarm sounded at about 1:21 p.m., according to Red Oak fire officials.

The source of the fire was located in a housekeeping room, officials said, and the internal fire sprinkler system contained the fire to that room. Red Oak police rerouted traffic from the service road onto I-35E while fire crews worked at the scene.

St. Pete Beach, FL – Sprinkler system activates to help control fire at TradeWinds resort hotel

A freak fire set off the sprinkler system at the TradeWinds Resort on Friday night, drenching hotel rooms in the Jacaranda Building, fire officials said. The fire was inside a microwave. A guest put a towel in the microwave to warm it up and instead it caught fire, emitting smoke that set off the fire alarm and activated the sprinkler system. No one was injured.

Blog Note – Only the substantial heat from a significant, advancing fire will activate a sprinkler system (not smoke)

The sprinkler system flooded rooms from the first to fifth floor, forcing those guests to evacuate. A private cleaning crew was being brought in to soak up the water to make the building habitable once again. The hotel was in the process of arranging accommodations at other hotels for the displaced guests.

Fire companies from St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, South Pasadena and St. Petersburg responded to the alarm.