Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Des Plaines, IL – Sprinkler system contains electric fire at Comfort Inn hotel September 14, 2015 viking210 An activated sprinkler system in the Comfort Inn hotel, 2175 Touhy Ave., Des Plaines, last Friday helped keep a fire in a basement storage room from spreading, which could have caused more damage and possibly injuries, according to Des Plaines Fire Chief Alan Wax. Firefighters who were called to the scene at 6:15 p.m. were able to extinguish the blaze within 15 minutes and after the building was ventilated, occupants were able to return to their rooms about 90 minutes later. Shortly after firefighters arrived on the scene, they found smoke throughout the basement with “extremely heavy smoke and some fire” in the storage room. At the same time, fire personnel went from room-to-room on all of the hotel’s floors confirming that no one was present as hallways were also filling with smoke. According to Wax, one sprinkler head had activated over the fire. This contained the blaze. It also activated the automatic alarm signal that summoned the fire department. The fire caused considerable damage to stored tables, chairs and other items in the storage room as well as electrical equipment. There was little structural damage and no injuries were reported. The hotel remained open after the incident. Cause of the fire, investigators determined, was arcing from a large electrical feed. “This was another great save by an automatic fire sprinkler system,” said Wax.
