Category Archives: Hotel / Motel

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Cottage Grove, MN – Overnight hotel fire knocked down by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

A hotel in the east metro was evacuated early Thursday after a blaze broke out. At about 2:45 a.m. emergency units responded to a report of a room on fire at the Country Inn and Suites in Cottage Grove.

The building sprinkler system had knocked down the fire and Cottage Grove crews extinguished any remaining blaze.

Crews from St. Paul Park and Woodbury assisted on the scene. There were no reports of any injuries.

Hotel / Motel

Lake Placid, NY – Fire at Crowne Plaza Resort suppressed by sprinkler system; Overheated computer was cause

The Crowne Plaza Resort and Golf Club was evacuated after the fire broke out around 11:12 a.m last Thursday. “The evacuation plan went great,” Lussi said. “We had actually just had a fire drill about six week ago.” The fire was triggered by a guest’s overcharged computer, he said. The guest was not in the room when the blaze broke out. Flames were contained to the room and had been mostly extinguished by the hotel’s sprinkler system when firefighters arrived.

“Sometimes in small businesses we think of things like sprinkler systems as extremely costly,” Lussi said. “You have to pay to have them inspected and re-certified. “This is just a phenomenal example of why it’s worth doing these things.

“The safety boards or building inspectors should get a lot of credit because we didn’t use to have individual sprinkler in all rooms. It evolved in past 15 or 20 years. When the mandate came to put them in individual rooms, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s going to be really expensive.’ “Then you realize this was worth every penny we invested, and we encourage other people to do the same.”

Lussi credited the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department for a quick response and for suppressing the hotel’s sprinkler system, which could have drained its entire water supply, he said. “They were very thoughtful in not letting anyone back into the building until they knew the area had been contained and was safe.” Fire Chief Jim Wasson said bedding in the room had ignited. “There was a lot of smoke and a lot of water when we arrived,” he said. “Thank goodness for sprinkler systems. It did a good job of soaking it.” Seventeen members of the department responded. They were back in service by 12:40 p.m.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Lewiston, ID – Electrical fire at hotel put out with help from sprinkler system

Fire officials suspect an electrical malfunction sparked a fire Monday evening in a fourth-floor room at the Red Lion Hotel in Lewiston.

The Lewiston Fire Department was dispatched to the hotel at 621 21st St. at approximately 6:20 p.m., and no one was injured in the fire, according to a news release from LFD Chief Travis Myklebust.

The first arriving unit found occupants from the hotel exiting into the parking lot, and nothing was showing from the outside. Crews went to the fourth floor and found a room with heavy black smoke coming into the hallway from inside. At that point, units from Asotin County Fire District No. 1, Clarkston Fire and Wheatland Fire District were requested as well.

As crews were getting in place, the hotel’s sprinkler system activated and helped extinguish the fire. The fire was contained to the room and there was some minor smoke damage on the fourth-floor and minor water damage on the third floor, according to the news release. The fire was under control by about 15 minutes after arrival.

Lewiston responded with three engines, one ladder truck, one service truck, two ambulances and three command officers, with a total of 17 personnel. Mutual-aid units responded with two engines and one support unit, totaling 14 personnel. Two fire investigators were also called to the scene.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Derby, VT – Motel room fire contained with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Close to 11:30 Friday night, Vermont State Police say Derby Line Fire Department responded to a report of a fire in a room at the Border Motel.

Upon arrival, crews encountered a fire in an occupied room on the second floor of the motel.

The fire department was able to extinguish the flames and keep the fire contained to the room of origin, along with the help of the building’s fire suppression/sprinkler system.

State Police say there were no reported injuries from the fire, but another tenant was transported to North Country Hospital for an unrelated medical emergency.

After his initial scene examination, Chief Craig Ellam requested the assistance of the Department of Public Safety Fire Investigation Unit.

Investigators were able to confirm the fire originated on a couch in the room.

Police say the room sustained significant damage and is considered a total loss. Other nearby rooms sustained smoke and water damage, and several tenants had to be relocated within the motel.

According to a media release, the male occupant of the room, Romuld Kuczek, was placed into protective custody due his level of intoxication.

There are no criminal charges at this point, but police say the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Hotel / Motel

Henrico, VA – Hotel fire controlled by single automatic sprinkler

A fire broke out at a hotel in Henrico, causing several people to evacuate. Crews received a call for a fire around 2:12 p.m. on Saturday in the Suburban Lodge, located in the 7800 block of Shrader Road. When crews arrived on the scene, they found out that the fire started in a hotel room.  The fire was being controlled by a sprinkler head, but fire officials said smoke filled the halls and common areas.  Firefighters helped several people evacuate from the building, and officials said some had mobility issues. Some people were even taken out of the windows. One person was injured in the incident.  The person injured in the incident suffered non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was hurt. The Henrico Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire, and police are directing traffic around the scene.

Hotel / Motel

Astoria, OR – Arson fire at Comfort Suites hotel extinguished with help from sprinkler system

A homeless man has been indicted in connection with a gas leak and fire at the Comfort Suites in Astoria last September. Matthew Jay Burke, 26, allegedly removed a plug from a gas meter near the hotel. Natural gas eventually leaked into and outside of the building on Lief Erikson Drive, causing a spark outside. Flames from the fire extended into the laundry room. The fire was extinguished after a water pipe burst and a ceiling sprinkler activated, causing several inches of water to flood the ground floor. The incident caused the hotel to temporarily close.

Dozens of guests from 75 rooms were evacuated and transferred to other hotels in Astoria and Warrenton. No injuries were reported. Burke was indicted in late January but has been held in a California jail for a separate probation violation. It is unclear whether Burke intended to cause a fire at the hotel or simply damage property. He has been charged with eight counts of recklessly endangering another person and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief.

“Frankly, the motel was full,” Clatsop County Deputy District Attorney Ron Brown said. “The risk to the public could’ve been pretty substantial.” Burke has yet to be transferred to the Clatsop County Jail, and an arraignment has not been scheduled.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Warren, MI – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling fire at Extended Stay America hotel

Warren Fire Department investigators believe an electrical problem in a bathroom vent fan may have sparked an early morning blaze Thursday at a city hotel that forced the evacuation of approximately 100 guests. Officials credited employees of the Extended Stay America, on Civic Center Drive, east of Van Dyke Avenue and north of 12 Mile Road, with helping patrons escape the burning building shortly after 3 a.m.

Flames in the ceiling of a third-floor unit spread into the upper portion of the three-story building and broke through the roof, Warren Fire Commissioner Wilburt McAdams said. Firefighters cut through a portion of the roof in order to determine whether flames had spread across other upper areas of the hotel. The fire triggered an internal alarm system, and employees who began checking the building noticed smoke on the third floor.

“They knew right away it was not a false alarm and not someone playing games, and immediately began knocking on doors telling people to get out,” McAdams said. All of the approximately 100 hotel guests got out safely without injury. Firefighters extinguished the flames in approximately 20 minutes, the commissioner said. No injuries were reported. The blaze caused severe damage to the bathroom where the fire started and the adjoining guest room, which had not been rented to a patron Wednesday night. The hotel sustained smoke damage and several rooms on the second floor had significant damage from water.

McAdams said the sprinkler system had activated in the bathroom where the fire began and smoke alarms in the building functioned properly. The hotel is located just south of the Warren Police Department and Warren City Hall. Most of the displaced guests were relocated to other hotels in the area. A Warren Fire inspector was still at the scene after 9 a.m. “The fire does not appear to be suspicious or arson. It appears to be electrical in nature,” McAdams said. “We’re very thankful that once again we avoided any kind of serious incident and that it was able to be brought under control in a few minutes,” he added.

Hotel / Motel

Atlantic City, NJ – Fire on 44th floor of Tropicana Casino and Resort contained by sprinkler system

Four floors of the Tropicana Atlantic City’s West Tower were temporarily evacuated last Wednesday morning when a fire broke out in a hotel room.  Fire Chief Scott Evans said the fire broke out just before 10 a.m., in a room on the 44th floor.  Evans said a Tropicana employee used a fire extinguisher to put out the room fire before firefighters arrived. The hotel room bed and bathroom were both on fire. The hotel’s sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading, said Evans. The fire was put out by 10:34 a.m.  Smoke quickly filled the hotel room hallways and adjacent rooms. Crews then worked to remove smoke from the building, which proved difficult because the hotel windows do not open. Fans were used throughout the emergency staircase to push smoke out to the roof.

Guests from the 43rd, 44th, 45th and 46th floors were evacuated for safety reasons. Evans said guests of 27 rooms on the 44th floor are being relocated to other hotel rooms. The three other floors were allowed to return to their hotel rooms.  Evans said one hotel employee was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s City Campus for treatment of smoke inhalation. The employee’s condition was not released.  A spokeswoman for Tropicana said the fire was immediately put out. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Hotel / Motel

Fort St. John, BC, Canada – Laundry fire at Super 8 Hotel put out by sprinkler system

Firefighters in Fort St. John were called out to a small laundry room fire at the Super 8 Hotel.  Fire Chief Fred Burrows said that crews were called out to the hotel in the 9500 block of Alaska Road North at approximately 6:30 in the morning. Burrows said that a small fire had broken out in the hotel’s laundry room and that the small fire was extinguished by the hotel’s sprinkler system by the time firefighters arrived.  Burrows said the hotel’s occupants were evacuated to the hotel’s lobby when the fire alarm sounded and were given the all-clear to return to their rooms once crews ensured that the fire was put out. The hotel’s General Manager Lourdes Samodio said that the incident lasted only roughly five minutes and that no one was hurt in the incident. She declined to comment further on the matter.  Burrows said that the laundry itself sustained minor damage and that apart from the appliances and cleaning supplies stored in the room, the rest of the hotel was unscathed. According to Burrows, the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but that the fire at this point is not deemed suspicious.