Palm Springs Hotel Evacuated

PALM SPRINGS (CNS) - An elevator motor broke at a Palm Springs hotel today, trapping an employee in the lift.

At 9:11 a.m., the Palm Springs Fire Department received a report of a possible fire in an elevator at the Hyatt Regency Suites, 285 N. Palm Canyon Drive, and that a person was trapped inside, fire officials said.

When firefighters arrived, they determined there was no fire.

"It was a burned up motor that was generating smoke," Battalion Chief Mark Avner.

The hotel employee was rescued and there were no injuries.

1880s-era Hotel in Washington Damaged By Fire

Story Created: Jul 10, 2007 at 2:56 PM EDT

WASHINGTON, Ind. — Fire damaged a nearly 130-year-old hotel early Tuesday, forcing city officials to rethink redevelopment plans for the run-down structure that will now need to be demolished.

No one was injured in the fire at the long-vacant Meredith House Hotel in downtown Washington. The three-story building, constructed around 1880, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the city's commercial historic district but had fallen into disrepair.

Fire Chief Dave Chapman said firefighters worked to protect other buildings on the block because they knew the Meredith House would be heavily damaged from the fire, which was spotted by a police officer about 2 a.m. Firefighters did not go inside the building because of the already-existing dangerous conditions.

Chapman said the fire was regarded as suspicious as investigators searched for what could have started the fire as building had no working utilities.

Charles Selby, executive director of the Daviess County Chamber of Commerce, was scheduled to visit Indianapolis Tuesday to meet with architects and developers to discuss plans for restoring the building in the city about 50 miles north of Evansville.

"It's a loss of a historical treasure, and it would have been a major portion of our downtown redevelopment," Selby said. "We're not going to give up."

Chapman said the structure is unstable and that officials were planning to tear the building down. Selby said developers may still be interested in the city's downtown but may have to find another building.

In 2006, the hotel was listed as endangered by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.

A plaque memorializing four Rome teens who died in the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire will be dedicated July 25.

The Myrtle Hill/Oak Hill Memorial Association, along with Old Rome High, has scheduled a ceremony for 10:30 a.m. at the Coosa Country Club.

The plaque, funded through private donations, will be installed at the corner of Broad Street and Sixth Avenue at a later date.

Still ranked as one of the nation’s worst fire disasters, the blaze at the supposedly fire-proof Atlanta hotel killed 119 people — including four boys representing Rome Hi-Y at the annual Georgia Youth Assembly.

Charles Wilkes Keith, 15; George William “Billy” Walden, 16; Lamar Brown, 16 and James “Buzz” Slatton, 16 were well-known student leaders and their deaths stunned the close-knit community.

Anne Salmon Culpepper, a Rome High freshman at the time of the fire, launched the memorial plaque drive on the sixtieth anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1946 fire.

No one hurt in fire at Fargo hotel

Jul 11 2007 7:03AM
Not your average stay for guests at one Fargo motel.

They had to be evacuated early this morning when fire broke out in the Kelly Inn in Fargo.

No one was hurt and guests were put up in another Kelly Inn across town for the night.

Fire Marshal Norm Scott says the fire started in the attic area on the southeast side of the building. The cause is under investigation. Scott says firefighters managed to knock down the flames before they spread to any of the rooms.