Small Electrical Fire Cuts Power To Dallas Hotel
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Some hotel guests in Dallas woke up early Wednesday morning without power or running water. A small fire started to burn just before 3:00 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located in the 1000 block of Elm Street in downtown Dallas.
According to officials with Dallas Fire-Rescue, the incident started as a water leak on the top floor of the 19-story high-rise. The leak caused an electrical short, which sparked the fire. Firefighters easily extinguished the flames, but shut down power to entire building as a precaution, and turned off the water to a few floors.
Only about 10 floors of the building include guest rooms. Other floors feature parking and meeting areas. Between 110 and 120 hotel guests were left in the dark after this incident. Some of those on lower floors may not even be aware of what happened while they slept through the night.
Emergency lights switched on in the guest rooms, hallways and stairwells. There were no injuries reported, and fire officials said that all guests are now safe. The hotel stayed open during the incident and nobody was evacuated, but some guests opted to leave anyway, gathering in the lobby until the power was restored. "I didn't know what to think. I smelled smoke and thought I needed to get out of here," said guest Jorge Roldan. "So, that's what I did. I came down to the lobby."
"The thing is, something small can turn into something large," explained guest Rick Costa. "In my opinion, the best thing to do is go ahead and evacuate as soon as possible. That's what I was thinking -- just get out."
Power will be restored to the hotel after firefighters and Oncor crews check the electrical boxes and determine that the hotel is safe. It is not known how long that process will take or when it will be complete.
