Hotel / Motel, Hotel / Restaurant Lake George, NY – Basement fire at Courtyard Marriott hotel extinguished with help from sprinkler system June 6, 2017 viking210 One person was hurt and dozens of guests evacuated late Friday after a fire broke out in the basement of the new Courtyard Marriott hotel on Canada Street, officials said. At least 15 firetrucks from around the region responded to the hotel for the 8:40 p.m. call as smoke filled parts of the building. The fire was out within minutes, and Lake George Fire Chief Jason Berry said guests were expected to be able to return to their rooms late Friday. But they had to wait for a few hours for the building to be ventilated and for sprinkler system heads that were activated to be replaced, the chief explained. Warren County sheriff’s Sgt. Ben Geisler said one person was taken to Glens Falls Hospital after they were hurt during the evacuation, but the injuries were not considered serious The fire broke out in an industrial trash can in the southwest corner of the basement of the building, apparently from spontaneous combustion of construction materials in it, the chief said. That area is unfinished and construction has been ongoing. Berry said firefighters arrived to find material on fire and smoke in the building, but the fire did not damage the structure itself. He said it was unclear what was in the trash container. “The sprinkler system definitely did its job,” he said. Sprinklers went off only in the area where fire was detected, but sprinkler heads that activate have to be replaced before the building can be re-opened, Berry said. Among the guests in the hotel were 30 or so members of the New York State Fire Districts Association, who took the situation in stride as they watched firefighters deal with the situation. They stood near the main entrance on the west side of the building, watching their brethren handle the situation. Some still had their bar drinks. “We got up and got out in an orderly fashion,” said Kit Thompson of Baldwinsville. “We knew what we had to do.” Jerry DeLuca, a fire chief from Ravena and executive director of the state fire chiefs association, was among the hotel guests, and he said there was no smoke evident on the side of the building where he was as he evacuated. He praised the local fire department response. “You guys did a great job,” he told Chief Berry. Two blocks of Canada Street were closed for several hours, as firetrucks from around the region lined up in front of the building. Mutual aid came from North Queensbury, Bolton, Warrensburg, Queensbury Central, Bay Ridge, Luzerne-Hadley and South Queensbury. Several tower trucks were among the apparatus called to the scene.
