Daniel Sperry was walking along Lido Beach Tuesday morning when he heard a “bang” and turned around to see smoke billowing from a sixth floor room at the Holiday Inn on Ben Franklin Drive.  Sarasota County fire officials said they couldn’t determine the cause of the fire – the state fire marshall will investigate – but no injuries were reported.

Sarsota County Fire Dept. Capt. Jerry Jensen said the department had the fire out in nine minutes.  “The initial stop was done by the sprinkler system within the building itself. Our crews were in there quickly and finished off the work the sprinkler system did start. So we had the fire out rather quickly.”

Power was initially out on the sixth floor but was later restored. Three rooms were vacated on the sixth floor. The Fire Department reported minor smoke damage to the hallway.

A hotel employee said there was a meeting for the International Association of Police Chiefs on the seventh floor of the building above the reported explosion. Members of the association were seen exiting the hotel with other residents during the initial evacuation.