Early-morning fire causes $500K damage to Redmond hotel nearing completion
(Update: Adding fire dept. info on explosion that blew off facade)
Hampton Inn was to open in March; cause believed mechanical or electrical
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Dozens of firefighters battled flames in sub-freezing temperatures early Tuesday to stop a stubborn fire that caused an estimated $500,000 in damage to a Hampton Inn hotel nearing completion near the Redmond Airport, officials said.
Redmond Fire & Rescue crews responded to their second structure fire of the night (after an earlier flue and attic fire at a northwest Redmond home), working in 12-degree temperatures to stop the spread of a fire at the four-story 105-room hotel on Southwest 21st Street, which was set to open in March, Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Puller said.
Arriving crews found flames coming from the roof and fourth floor on the east end of the building, Puller said. They immediately went into a defensive strategy, deploying large “master streams” of water from an engine and two ladder trucks.
Once the fire was knocked down, crews entered the building, confirmed no one was inside and tackled the remaining flames with hose lines and hand tools.
“This was a stubborn fire to extinguish, due to freezing temperatures and fire burning in multiple void spaces that had to be accessed by firefighters,” Puller said in a news release.
And there also was an explosion early in the battle.
"Shortly after we arrived on scene, there was an explosion that blew off half of the exterior facade on the east end of the building," Puller said.
"We suspect a natural gas buildup, possibly from the gas-fueled air handling unit," he said. "With the cold temps, we suspect the gas did not rise and built up in the wall, and then ignited when it got a fuel source. It blew debris across the parking lot."
Puller said investigators were looking in the area of one of the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems as a probable cause of the blaze, as it was located on the roof, in the area where the fire apparently began.
The hotel's sprinkler system had been installed, he said, but was not yet operational, with a final inspection scheduled for next week.
However, the standpipe system was operational, Puller added, so firefighters were able to connect their hose lines to it in the stairwells as they attacked the fire.
The Mississippi-based company building the hotel, Heritage Hospitality Group, said in a statement Tuesday to NewsChannel 21 that they are cooperating with Redmond Fire authorities investigating the incident.
Due to the rebuilding process, they now "look forward to welcoming guests" next summer, the company said.
A total of 32 career and seven volunteer firefighters were called to the scene. Mutual-aid assistance was provided by multiple fire agencies from Sunriver, Crooked River Ranch, Cloverdale, Bend and Crook County. Redmond police, Pacific Power and Cascade Natural Gas also assisted at the scene.
