The incident occurred at a little bit before 6 a.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Park City – The Yarrow on Park Avenue. The Police Department said nobody was injured.
The Park City Building Department investigated, finding that water leaking from a circulation pump attached to a boiler went through the floor and into the level below. The water leaked onto the electrical panel, shorting the panel, Kurt Simister, the fire marshal at City Hall, said. The panel then caught fire.
He said the fire burned insulation off wiring. The fire-sprinkler system was triggered and extinguished the flames, Simister said. He said the fire was determined to be accidental.
Simister said people staying in the southeast wing of the hotel were ordered out of their rooms for several hours during the emergency response. Phil Kirk, a police captain, said people staying in more than 50 rooms were ordered out of their rooms during the evacuation. The hotel provided food for the people who needed to leave their rooms, Kirk said.
The hotel recently underwent a major renovation. Simister said the electrical system, though, was not upgraded as part of the project. It is “as built, years ago” in the 1970s, Simister said about the electrical system.
“We treat these like they’re real every time,” Simister said about the fire and the decision to order people to leave part of the building.
Vail Resorts, the Colorado-based owner of Park City Mountain Resort, manages the hotel. A PCMR spokesperson said the hotel has resumed normal operations. The damage was “minimal” and is expected to be repaired quickly, the spokesperson said.
