August 1, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Fire Forces Downtown Hotel Evacuation

A fire in an elevator shaft forced the evacuation of the Best Western Chateau Suite Hotel in downtown Shreveport this morning just before 9:00 a.m.

The hotel’s fire alarm system signaled the first warning that something was wrong, sounding an alarm to the front desk of a fire in one of the building’s two elevator shafts. When management went to investigate, they encountered smoke in the elevator area and immediately called 911 and began evacuating the building.

When firefighters arrived, all five floors of the Lake Street hotel were filled with smoke with the heaviest concentration being on the first and second floors. Fire attack crews quickly ascended upon the south side of the building, where the elevators were located, and began looking for the source of the smoke. Minutes later, after prying open a set of elevator doors, firefighters encountered the fire confined to an electric control box. Crews used dry chemical and carbon dioxide extinguishers to douse the fire around 9:15 a.m. Simultaneously, additional fire crews were sent to each floor of the hotel to aid in and expedite the evacuation process. All of the occupants were removed without incident and/or injury.

Officials surmised that the smoke from the fire was pulled into the return air for the ventilation system and sent throughout the hotel, intensifying the situation. Once the fire was extinguished, firefighters worked, using large gas powered exhaust fans, to remove the smoke from the building. At 9:45 guests were allowed to return to the hotel’s lounge and restaurant area until all of the smoke could be cleared from their rooms.

The hotel had 50 of their rooms occupied at the time of the incident. An exact number of guests were not immediately available. Fire officials determined that the fire was due to an electrical failure in the control box of the elevator. In all, more than two dozen firefighters assisted in the incident. ###