Hotel fire causes minor damage

SEATTLE – A fire in a vacant guest room at a high-rise Seattle hotel briefly sent out flames and smoke Friday afternoon but no one was injured, a Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman said.

A malfunctioning heater started the fire on the outer wall of a 24th floor room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Lt. Sue Stangl said. Heat from the fire broke the room’s window, allowing smoke, heat and flames to vent to the outside.

Damage was estimated at $5,000.

Flames and smoke briefly pouring from the burning room in the 34-floor hotel were captured on television news footage and visible to drivers on nearby Interstate 5.

Hotel general manager Cristy Smith said the room was vacant for repairs unrelated to the heating unit. She said the alarm system notified guests on six floors to evacuate.

The fire was reported at 4:30 p.m. and Stangl estimated it was out within 20 minutes.

“All of our systems worked properly,” Smith said. “We’re just very thankful there were no injuries and very, very minor damage.”

Smith said the hotel was back to normal by Friday evening.

“I saw embers coming down out my window,” 10th floor hotel guest Julian Bryce told KOMO-TV.

The flight attendant said he heard a message over the hotel public address system saying there had been an alarm and to remain calm.

So Bryce said he walked down 10 flights of stairs – “only to find out it wasn’t as big as it looked from my window.”