Structural integrity of garage now in question following fire at Stamford, Conn., hotel
STAMFORD, Conn. -- More than a dozen vehicles were damaged or destroyed in a big fire at a hotel parking garage in Fairfield County.
The fire burned so hot, inspectors worried about the structural integrity of the garage.
The blaze was also a rude awakening for hundreds of hotel guests.
Pillows and blankets piled up outside attested to the early morning inconvenience at Armon Hotel on Summer Street in Stamford. Nine hundred guests, many staying there for Passover break, were rousted out of bed by a dangerous fire that consumed vehicles in the parking garage attached to the hotel.
"It was a terrible morning. We woke up at 5 with the fire alarm going off. Everyone had to exit the building. It was just hard. We all wanted to go back to sleep," guest Cheryl Sawyers said.
"Our top priority is the 900 occupants of the hotel, making sure they're safe, that they have support with water and food," Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons said.
Fire officials say eight vehicles were destroyed and another eight were significantly damaged. The intense heat is raising concerns about the structural integrity of the parking garage.
"The amount of heat that was generated -- it's an open bar joist-style construction above us -- and there was not a sprinkler system inside the parking garage, so we had significant amount of damage to the supporting structures, which has caused the potential for collapse and we have some significant sagging of the second floor directly above," Stamford Fire Department Deputy Chief Matt Palmer said.
The fears of collapse prevented any guests from entering to remove their undamaged vehicles.
The unstable structure also delayed investigators from starting their work to determine the fire's cause and origin. One angle they will look at is if any electric vehicles were involved.