Fire Evacuates W Hotel Guests

POSTED: 4:05 pm CST February 25, 2007

DALLAS -- A fire at the newly built W Hotel forced more than 100 guests to evacuate their rooms Sunday, NBC 5 reported.

A large dumpster caught fire at about 9:23 a.m. Sunday inside the garage of the hotel on Victory Avenue and Lamar Street in downtown Dallas, fire officials said.

The flames sent smoke rising several stories into the building, startling guests and forcing them to gather across the street at the American Airlines Center. Some walked out with nothing, others carried just about everything.

"They started knocking on doors, saying it’s the real deal," Willard Jackson said. Willard and Kim Jackson said they were already packed.

"We looked outside and saw the fire engines and we said ‘we better get out of here,’" Kim Jackson said.

"We were up on the 14th and it was difficult to see, " Sue Johnson said. "We just saw a lot of smoke."

Sue Johnson and Camille Gore evacuated only with what they were wearing -- new fur coats.

"We've been shopping," Gore said laughing. "We saved the coats."

Across the street, the hotel’s staff passed out robes to many other guests that were unprepared for the cold weather.

One man complained of chest pains and had to be carried out by a stretcher, but there were no other injuries reported.

The fire was extinguished within an hour, NBC 5 reported.
Copyright 2007 by nbc5i.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Several students told The BG News they did not hear any fire alarms.

Circle K president Jillian Smith said she didn't hear any fire alarms until she got to a lower floor.

At around 7:20 a.m., Toledo Fire Chief Michael Bell told evacuees waiting in the SeaGate Center that it had been an electrical fire that began outside of the hotel.

Some guests waited on two city buses.

Toledo firefighter Joe Camerato said not all guests had left their rooms because it was safer for some to stay in their rooms and avoid more confusion.

Toledo Edison, Toledo's power company, reported to the scene once firefighters determined the fire was electrical.

According to Mike Sapara, the hotel's general manager, there were no injuries. He added there was only smoke damage to the hotel.

Nine Hospitalized After Inhaling Fumes In Hotel Laundry Room

POSTED: 2:01 pm PST February 26, 2007

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Nine people were hospitalized Monday morning after inhaling fumes from chemicals that were accidentally mixed together in the first-floor laundry room of a Rancho Mirage hotel, a fire official said.

A hazardous materials team was called to the Hilton Garden Inn, 71700 Highway 111, at about 11 a.m. after employees complained of inhaling fumes that "smelled like bleach," according to Deputy Chief Ignacio Otero with the Riverside County Fire Department.

"Some chemicals were accidentally mixed together in the first-floor laundry room that created fumes," Otero said.

Otero said the victims -- eight hotel employees and one guest -- were expected to be treated and released.

"They were taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure," Otero said.