There were three separate fires over the weekend in the Fairbanks area. It was February, and there were arctic temperatures.
A fire at the Klondike Inn occurred Friday afternoon. It caused damage estimated between $25,000 and $30,000. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. City fire inspector Eric Mohrmann is investigating. Mohrmann said that fire damage was confined to Room 246. It had been vacant for some time. The smoke and water damage spread to adjoining units of the hotel at 1316 Rewak.
M/J Rentals on the Richardson Highway was damaged by a fire early Sunday morning. Damage was estimated at $70,000. Chief Charles Lundfelt of the North Star Volunteer Fire Department said that a passerby spotted the blaze and reported it at 5:22 a.m. Sunday to Alaska State Troopers. Lundfelt said that the fire began in the business's furnace room. The fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal's office. The chief said that the building is worth $350,000. Its contents are worth $1.5 million. The contents were not damaged. Called to the fire were four engines and 19 firefighters from the North Star department. Firefighters worked in 34-below temperatures.
Damage estimated at $7,600 was sustained at the Great Land Hotel, 723 First Ave. The hotel was evacuated Sunday
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afternoon after a fire in a maintenance room spread smoke throughout the building. The cause of the fire was attributed to spontaneous combustion of rags used for staining. No one was injured. The hotel was filled with smoke when city firefighters arrived. First, the firefighters searched upper floors for the blaze. They could not find it. It was eventually traced to the maintenance office in the basement. The hotel sprinkler system controlled the fire until firefighters extinguished it. The city fire report said that smoke apparently spread through the building because some stairway doors were propped open. Smoke was cleared from the building after all the stairway doors and doors to the roof were opened. Guests staying at the hotel stood outside in sub-zero temperatures as firefighters brought in fans to clear the hallways of smoke. Mohrmann said that drying oils, when exposed to the atmosphere, are subject to spontaneous combustion. Cause of the fire was traced to rags that had been used a couple of hours earlier for staining wood trim. The rags were placed in a plastic garbage can, not in a sealed metal bucket. The rags began to smolder and eventually caught fire. They melted the can they were in. University of Alaska Fire Department also responded to the fire. This is part of the city's mutual aid plan.
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Exercise 21.5
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education