Category Archives: Hotel / Restaurant

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Williamsburg, VA – Suspicious overnight fire at Ramada Inn controlled by sprinkler system

Officials in York County say a fire at a Williamsburg hotel is being considered suspicious. The York County Fire Department was dispatched to the Ramada Inn- Williamsburg located at 500 Merrimac Trail at 4:24 a.m.  When crews arrived they found fire in a conference room and two other rooms. The hotel’s sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading, fire officials said.

The fire was put out quickly and damage was limited to the three rooms. Smoke was found in nearby areas of the hotel. Officials are working to determine the exact cause of the fire, however, at this time the incident is being considered suspicious.  The Williamsburg and James City County fire departments assisted in putting out the flames.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Mississauga, ON, Canada – Restaurant fire kept in check by sprinkler system; No injuries

Mississauga Fire is at a scene of a restaurant fire on Shepherd Avenue in the Cooksville area.
Emergency crews responded to a call at approximately 6:11 p.m. for a fire that originated in the kitchen of a restaurant in the area.
The sprinkler systems had been activated and the fire was extinguished by the time the firefighters arrived.
There are no injuries reported.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Ottumwa, IA – Fourth floor hotel fire held in check by sprinkler system

At approximately 12:15 a.m. Sunday morning, October 30th, the Ottumwa Fire Department responded to a report of a room on fire at the Hotel Ottumwa. Upon arrival, fire fighters discovered a fourth floor room on fire. Two sprinkler heads had activated, keeping the fire from growing and spreading. An employee of the Hotel Ottumwa, Trevor Medina, heard the fire alarm activation and went to the fourth floor. Medina kicked in the door and pulled a female occupant to safety. The occupant was immediately transferred to the Ottumwa Regional Health Center for treatment of smoke inhalation.

Ottumwa Police Department personnel assisted with the safe evacuation of the upper floors of the hotel. Ottumwa Fire Chief Tony Miller credits the courageous action of Medina with preventing a tragic ending. 

The hotel sustained smoke and water damage; mostly limited to the original floor of origin with minor smoke damage on the fifth floor. Tenants and guests were allowed to return their rooms shortly after the fire was extinguished and the smoke was removed. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Ottumwa Fire Department. 

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Irondale, AL – Sprinkler system helps limit hotel fire to one room

Fire crews are on the scene at the Hampton Inn off Grants Mill Road in Irondale.

Irondale and Birmingham Fire Department responded. According to officials, the fire was contained to one room. After the blaze began, the sprinkler system kicked in and helped limit the fire from spreading.

At this time, everyone is still outside of the hotel. The fire is under control now.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

Gastonia, NC – Guest and staff safe after sprinkler system helps contain hotel kitchen fire

A small kitchen fire activated the sprinkler system at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel early Sunday morning and all 300 guests had to leave their rooms temporarily, according to fire officials.

The 6:42 a.m. fire did not cause any injuries at the hotel on Remount Road, according to officials.

“There was a small fire in the kitchen that activated the sprinkler system,” said Chris Stowe, a spokesman with Gastonia Fire Department.

About 20 firefighters responded because of the size of the building and number of people involved. The fire was put out in about 10 minutes.

The hotel has 130 rooms and approximately 300 guests were put out of their rooms in the early morning hours, said Olivia Popplewell, general manager of Courtyard by Marriott.

“All of our guests are safe. All of our employees are safe,” Popplewell said.

Guests were allowed to start returning to their rooms around 7:20 a.m.

The hotel was even able to serve a continental breakfast of fruit and yogurt to guests, Popplewell said.

There was a little water damage to the kitchen area, but business was back to normal soon afterward, Popplewell said.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

San Antonio, TX – Sprinklers activate when oven causes fire at restaurant south of downtown

An oven was to blame for a fire early Monday morning that damaged a building south of downtown, fire officials said.

When firefighters arrived around 6:30 a.m. at the King William Professional Building in the 800 block of South St. Mary’s Street, they found flames shooting from an air conditioning unit above Francis Bogside Pub.

Fire Chief Charles Hood said the fire was quickly extinguished, but there was significant water damage from the sprinkler system, fire officials said.

No one was hurt in the fire.

Hood said the fire doesn’t appear to be suspicious.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Jackson, MI – Suspicious fire at downtown sports bar contained by sprinkler system

Investigators are calling a fire that damaged Chase Sports Bar in downtown Jackson suspicious. The fire started Sunday night just after 9 p.m. then spread to the back of the building.

“It was kinda like your worst nightmare,” said Owner Randy LeMaster. LeMaster was working at his other bar down Michigan Avenue when he got the call.  “The back next to the walk-in freezer was all up in flames,” he said.

Investigators say the fire started in a storage area outside the bar and just kept spreading. “It started to extend up the back side of the building which was a steel sided building. That presents its own problems because there are gaps between the steel and the brick behind it, so the fire mainly got into that gap space,” explained Deputy Fire Chief David Wooden with the Jackson County Fire Department.

Flames even got into the air ducts, but firefighters say the damage stayed to a back bathroom and the kitchen thanks to a sprinkler that went off. Investigators say they’re treating the scene as suspicious. “When you have a fire that started outside of a building, you don’t have the amount of accidental causes that could have started the fire,” Wooden explained.

Security cameras from both the bar and the apartment building next door could be key to helping investigators, they’re looking over all the video and hope it will show them just how the fire started. “We’re just hoping to see if there was anybody in the area to see if there’s something else we need to follow up on,” Wooden said.

Jackson called in 3 other fire departments through mutual aid because the fire was at a commercial building and there was a high-rise retirement apartment building next door. About 30 residents were evacuated but the fire never spread to the inside of the apartment building.

LeMaster says he’s just happy no one was injured. With significant smoke and water damage to the back of the building, he’s now focused on getting it repaired. But LeMaster is counting himself lucky since the flames didn’t spread to the main bar.

Still with the holidays coming up, he can’t afford to be out of business. “I’ve got a crew lined up to move forward on getting things cleaned up,” he said.  Chase will be closed for at least a month.  LeMaster tells News 10 he has about 30 employees at that bar and he’s trying to keep them busy with cleanup or get them extra hours at his other bar.

Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant

San Antonio, TX – Sprinkler system quickly put out hotel kitchen fire during wedding reception

Two people were taken to a nearby hospital and two floors were evacuated after a fire erupted Saturday night during a wedding banquet at a downtown hotel.

San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Bryan Patten said the fire started on the second floor at about 7:30 p.m. in the Sheraton Gunter hotel, 205 E. Houston St.

According to San Antonio Fire Department Captain Craig Balter, a cooking stove caught fire during a wedding banquet, producing heavy smoke that filled the first and second floors.

The sprinkler system quickly put the fire out, but the floors were soaked and the smoke had to be vented from the building.

Residents were evacuated and two people were treated for minor injuries, officials said.

Groomsman Matthew Guevara said they had just sat down to eat their food when their wedding planner told them to evacuate.

“I did not feel the reality of it until I walked out and was hit hard by the smoke,” Guevara said. “It’s a real specific kind of smoke with plastic burning.”

Guevara said he saw one person being escorted by first responders with a burned arm and another person had a breathing mask, possibly for smoke inhalation.

The 200 block of East Houston Street was closed off for at least two hours as more than 15 units initially responded to the scene.

Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant

Hampton Beach, NH – Sprinkler system helps firefighters control fire at restaurant in historic building

Firefighters battled a fire Wednesday morning at the Purple Urchin Seaside Cafe at Hampton Beach.  The Purple Urchin is located on the second floor of 169 Ocean Blvd.

The fire started just before 8 a.m. and took crews an hour to put out. The fire went to three alarms in the iconic building that has been a part of Hampton Beach since the early 1900s.

In February 2010, a fire destroyed an entire block in Hampton Beach, and Fire Chief Jameson Ayotte said that fire was in their minds as they responded to the fire. Ayotte was the first person to spot the fire at the Purple Urchin.

“I was driving into work and saw smoke coming from the building,” Ayotte said. “The smoke was coming from the roof just over the Purple Urchin.”

Firefighters initially battled the fire from the front stairs. Authorities said sprinklers and the fire alarm system activated during the fire.  Firefighters from 16 New Hampshire and Massachusetts towns joined in the fight.  Ayotte said it appeared to have started on the second floor, but it didn’t stay there.

“The fire was in the roof structure and started to run along the underside of the roof, so you can see they’re placing cuts in the roof and going after it under the shingles,” he said.

The chief said the building was built in 1901, so firefighters had to deal with seasoned wood. But the building had a sprinkler system, which helped them get the fire under control.

Donnie Miller, who owns a few businesses in the building, said that his reaction was immediate.  “Panic, immediately,” he said. “You panic, and your mind thinks the worst, obviously. Your heart drops in your stomach, and you want to see what’s happening.”

Eventually, he was able to get a look inside. “What I could see from where we’re at, it’s just smoke damage, not any water damage,” he said.

Several adjacent businesses were damaged by water and smoke. Firefighters said the building was unoccupied at the time, as most of the seasonal businesses were closed for the winter season.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated and released. They are all expected to make a full recovery. Hampton fire officials, the state Fire Marshal’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco of Firearms investigated the cause of the fire.

Officials said the cause was a beverage cooler, which had a power cord that short-circuited.