Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Hays, KS – Laundry fire at Holiday Inn Express extinguished by sprinkler system April 20, 2015 viking210 At 10:04 p.m. Saturday, the Hays Fire Department, assisted by the Hays Police Department, was dispatched to an automatic fire alarm at the Holiday Inn Express, 4650 Roth. First arriving police officers reported there was a fire in the building and that occupants were evacuating. At the same time, Holiday Inn Express staff called 911 to report a fire in the laundry room. At that time, additional fire crews and Ellis County EMS were alerted to respond. Police officers immediately began assisting with the evacuation of the building. Ellis County EMS assisted one guest with limited mobility in evacuating the hotel. There were no injuries as a result of the fire. Firefighters advanced one attack hose line to the laundry room and found the fire had been extinguished by two automatic fire sprinklers. After confirming that the fire was extinguished, firefighters worked to clear the smoke and shut down the fire sprinkler system. The laundry room suffered fire, smoke and water damage. The lobby area and portions of the first floor of the building suffered water and smoke damage. The most probable cause of the fire was the spontaneous combustion of laundry inside a clothes dryer. Five fire trucks and 18 firefighters responded. The last fire crew left the scene at 12:31 a.m. Sunday.
